Its A Prom Thing
by MeiYingWang
Summary: Pretend that the Tekken teenagers are normal highschool students encountering normal highschool lives and problems. Pretty boring, huh? But not for these guys. SIXTH CHAPTER IS HERE! r&r! tHANX
1. News

It's a Prom Thing  
  
  
  
"Christie, Christie, wake up," said Mrs. Montiero in her ever soft and calming voice. "Its already 7:30!"  
  
Christie rubbed her eyes. "What?!" she exclaimed. "Omigosh, I only have 30 minutes more to prepare for school."  
  
She then made her bed as quick as she could and ignored her mother 's usual morning sermons, "You know you should stop that bad habit of yours; sleeping late at night watching late night soaps, and end up being forced to wake up early in the morning. Christie make up your mind. For graciousness' sake you're 15 you're no longer 12. Christie? CHRISTIE DO YOU HEAR?"  
  
"Yes mommy dearest." She said annoyingly. "Now you can go out of my room, please?"  
  
Mrs. Montiero then kissed her daughter on the forehead and said, "(sighs) as you say so sweetie, but please if you have any problems just consult me and I'll be there for you, okay?" Christie nodded her head. "Okay, then I'll be out now."  
  
Then she heard the door slam. "Finally, (sigh) mothers...what would be the world without them? Hmmm...probably be much simpler." Then she headed for the bathroom.  
  
30 minutes later Christie went down downstairs combing her damp hair and arranging herself in a mirror near the main door then suddenly her big brother, Chrisanto snatched her comb out of her hand and Christie helplessly reached for her most prized possession. She despised being treated this way, being teased for she is the only daughter in the family. Especially by one person, the person in the name of...  
  
"Chrisanto Cesar Almedo Montiero Jr., give it back before I..." Christie said turning red while facing her brother.  
  
"Before you what?" Her brother then grinned devilishly at her, a grin so evil that you might think his handsome face was going to eat you. "Remember sis, you still have to loan me back my mobile phone you borrowed and well...sad to say...you lost it."  
  
"Yeah right, it wasn't me, your dimwit best friend, Leo was the one who borrowed it last at the party." Christie answered him.  
  
"Well, I checked it out on him and said that he didn't even touch it." Chrisanto said. "And by the way, Leo said that he thinks you're kinda cute."  
  
"Ugh, I'm out of here." Christie said and opened the front door, but before she took a step outside she took a good chance on snatching her comb away from her brother's hands and said teasingly, "See ya, bro and tell Leo to keep his distance from me." Then she went outside and headed for school.  
  
When Christie arrived in school, she was greeted by a sarcastic good morning from their teacher Ms. Nina Williams.  
  
"Well, are we off to a bad start in the morning aren't we Ms. Montiero?" Asked Ms. Williams who was discussing something in Advanced Physics when Christie came in.  
  
Miss Williams then walked over to Christie's seat and handed her a piece of paper. It was another hand-out for their lesson. "What happened Christie?" A brown-haired girl, in the name of Julia, who was wearing red- framed glasses beside Christie asked. " Why are you so late, you totally missed almost half of the discussion."  
  
"Well, I just ran into some problems with my ever-destructive brother, or maybe I shouldn't call him brother anymore." Christie whispered back while curling her upper lip with fury.  
  
"I'm beginning to worry about you already." Julia whispered backed again.  
  
"Don't worry Jules, I'm completely A-ok!" Christie said while patting her friend's shoulder.  
  
When their morning session classes had ended, however, the Mishima Polytechnic High School Student Council declared that next month the Annual Junior-Senior Prom will be held at the Mishima Zaibatsu. This made Christie's blood stir of excitement. It will be her first time on the prom.  
  
"Oh, I can't wait for that." Christie said enthusiastically while she and Julia were stuffing their things in her locker.  
  
"Well, its just a party, what can you get from that anyways?" Julia said and Christie shook her head and let out a loud sigh, loud enough for Julia to hear.  
  
Well, that's typically the Julia that I know ever since. Christie thought. So, anti-social. Christie tried to remember that ever since there are social gatherings being held in school or out school, expect Julia to be out of it. She always thinks that parties are so immature and all she ever thought about are their lessons or generally education. Hey speaking of immaturity, where's Pamela? Christie thought.  
  
"Hey where's Pamela?" Christie asked Julia while they simultaneously closed their lockers." I haven't seen her all morning, is she absent, she haven't called last night?  
  
* "Well, she did call me this morning and told me she got soar throat", Julia said with a shrug. "Probably she ate too much candy again."  
  
Poor Pamela, Christie thought. Or should I say Xiao because Pamela was just Xiao's adopted Westernised name. She is such a baby, she tries to act mature, but her immaturity can still be obvious in the way she handles herself.  
  
"Did she say when she'll be coming back?" Christie asked Julia.  
  
"Well she did say she might come back this afternoon for our afternoon session." Julia answered "You know how she hates to miss Arts & Crafts class."  
  
"Yeah, she might blow up!" Christie laughed. Then they headed towards the cafeteria to have other lunch.  
  
While they were having their lunch, Pamela arrived. She was still looking pale and weak.  
  
"Nice to see you Pam!" Christie greeted. "Are you feeling fine already, it seems that you look...well...tired.  
  
"Hi Chris, Hi Jules." Pamela greeted back and said, "Well, it's a Wednesday and I hate to miss Arts & Crafts.  
  
Pam then took a seat across Julia and began to talk anxiously fast, "So, what happened this morning, did you have new discussions, was Ms. Williams informed of my absence in her class?  
  
"Whoa, slow down girl!" Christie hollered. "You talk to Julia, after all she's Miss-know-it-all."  
  
Julia then gave Christie a sour expression and began to talk to Pamela, who was now childishly twisting her pigtails, "Well, we did have a new discussion regarding our new lesson in Advanced Physics. And yes, Ms. Williams was aware of your absence cuz I told her. Satisfied?"  
  
"I guess so." Pam answered depressingly. "(sighs) I hate candies. If only they can't make my tonsils hurt. Hmmph!" She crossed her arms across her chest and slouched on her seat.  
  
"Take it easy, Pam!" Julia tried to console her.  
  
"Yeah. Julia's right." Christie said. "And besides, the MPHSSC declared a while ago that we'll be having our JS Prom next month. Won't that be great?"  
  
"JS Prom?" Pam said confused. "What's that?"  
  
"Pam, (sighs) your too impossible." Christie said exasperatingly. "Okay, a Prom is a party held annually in schools, specifically for high school students. I can't believe you don't actually know that. Oh, grow up Pam!"  
  
"Oh, a party?" Pam exclaimed. "Will there be games, food and lot-o- fun?"  
  
"Pam, a prom is no kiddie party," Christie said. "It's a party for teenagers, like us and instead of games and other kiddie stuff there'll be dancing, dinner and most of all there'll be a Prom Queen and King!"  
  
"That's too boring, I won't attend any of those and besides I hate dancing." Pam said.  
  
"I'm not attending either." Julia said while taking a bite out of her sandwich.  
  
"Why not?" Pam asked.  
  
"Well, one thing is that I'm not interested in any social gatherings where we will only get involved in alcohol and stuff." Julia said with a tone of maturity in her voice.  
  
"(sighs) Well, if you guys aren't attending," said Christie. "then who's gonna be with me?"  
  
"I guess you're going all alone." Said Julia while stuffing the last bite of her sandwich in her mouth.  
  
"I thought you guys are my friends." Said Christie sadly. "And I thought friends should be with one another whatever happens." Then she left her seat and went away without warning leaving her friends puzzled.  
  
"Was it something I said?" asked Julia confused.  
  
"Hey, Chrissie wait!" shouted Pam from the table. "We didn't mean to-" But unfortunately, she was too late. Christie had already disappeared. Then Pam turned to Julia. "Julia, you mustn't have been so hard on her."  
  
"No I wasn't." said Julia. "Don't worry, she'll call later tonight and apologize, you know how she is."  
  
"I guess so..." said Pam with a tone relief.  
  
Later that night...  
  
"Umm...Hello, Julia?" Christie said as someone at the end of the line answered the phone.  
  
"Oh, hello Christie, what is it?" Julia answered.  
  
"Well, I would like to apologize for my harsh behaviour during lunch this noon time." Said Christie sorrowfully.  
  
"Sure, apology accepted." Said Julia. "No problem."  
  
"Thanks Jules you're a real friend." Said Christie with a sign of enlightenment in her voice.  
  
"Duh! Don't be so paranoid." Julia said with a laugh. "We've been through this already, many times. And sorry, I can't really go to the prom, you know that its not my thing. Hope you understand. Anyway, have you called Pam yet?"  
  
"Yeah." Christie replied. "And funny though, you two said exactly the same thing."  
  
"Well, one thing's for sure, and that is were friends, Christie, I mean what are friends for?" said Julia. And this made Christie smile. "Anyway, I had to go now, I still had to do my homework. Bye."  
  
"Yeah, bye, g'night." Said Christie as she put down the receiver.  
  
Christie then lied down on her bed with the phone on her lap and began to think. I guess I'll really be going alone to the prom, she thought. Nah, what am I thinking, the prom is not until five weeks. Then she put the phone away and proceeded to her slumber.  
  
Next day at lunch time Christie, Julia, and Pamela were falling in line in the cafeteria counter to buy their lunch. They were standing there for ages already.  
  
"Great, this time I'm gonna starve." Said Christie while nodding her head.  
  
"Don't worry, Christie, be patient we'll get our turns." Said Pam sweetly.  
  
Meanwhile, from a distant table located in the corner of the cafeteria, Jin Kazama and his so-called group of friends were sitting there as usual during lunch period and usual planning something on how to create chaos around the school campus. And for Jin, he was no ordinary student in the school, for he was the school's president's grandson. And he was one of the popular students in the school. But unfortunately for him, he had no loyal friends.  
  
"Hey, its getting boring around here. How's about we dare little grandpa's boy here to do something for fun, huh?" said one of Jin's friends, Nick, as he grinned evilly at Jin.  
  
"Dare me to what?" Jin said harshly. "To take of my trousers in front of the whole school and make the girlies drool."  
  
"Close, Jinny boy." Said a guy beside Jin with orange-red, shoulder length hair with goggles. "But you already make them drool without even taking off your trousers."  
  
"Hwoarang, just say it if your jealous." Asked Jin to the guy beside him with orange-red hair.  
  
"And why in the world am I going to get jealous." Answered Hwoarang.  
  
"Say, I have a good one." Said a guy across Jin. "How about if Jin pulls up the skirt of that girl in pigtails," he said as he pointed at Pam. "Right over there by the counter, I heard that she wears cute baby bunny underwear."  
  
"Good one Charles," said Hwoarang while nudging Jin's elbow. "And surely, that would make the whole school shake with laughter."  
  
"Now, what d'ya say, Jin?" asked a girl, who was now holding Hwoarang's arm. "Are you gonna dare, or are you chicken?"  
  
"Hazel's right dude, are you gonna dare or what?" Hwoarang asked while patting the shoulder of his friend.  
  
Jin smiled evilly and said, "Alright, I'll do it." Then Jin locked his eyes on the girl with pigtails, Pam, and saw that she was only about two meters away from them. And said, "But first hand me a couple of straws."  
  
This made the guys puzzle but then Charles took several plastic straws at the counter and handed them to Jin. Then Jin started to assemble the straws. He assembled them until they were long enough to reach the girl's skirt.  
  
As soon as Jin finished putting the straws altogether, he carefully stretched his arm with the long assembled straws in his hand and as the straws reached Pam's above the knee plaited Mishima High uniform skirt, Jin carefully lifted it up and hilarious as it may seem, the girl really was wearing a pink, panty with cute baby bunnies all over it. And unfortunately for the girl she hardly even noticed that her skirt was lifted up!  
  
The guys at the table roared with laughter and later on as the students noticed what was the commotion all about, the whole school cafeteria was shaking with laughter from all the students.  
  
What is so funny, Pam thought. And why are those people looking at me and laughing?  
  
Pam felt a cold breeze hitting gently her thighs. She looked back and saw that a guy, two meters away from her, was stretching out his hand and holding out some straws and was lifting up her skirt showing off to the whole cafeteria her underwear. And she hardly even felt it! Then seeing it, Christie and Julia didn't even know at first that she was the matter of laughter until then. Pam then got a grip of her skirt and closed it down and went to Christie crying of embarrassment. Christie got hold of Pam and got out of the cafeteria where students were still pointing at Pam laughing.  
  
Julia then looked for the person who created the chaos. And then she saw, a guy sitting at the table in the corner of the cafeteria, holding some straws in his hand and was now laughing his head off together with his group. Julia came over to him.  
  
"HEY YOU," Julia shouted. "DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ON WHAT YOU DID TO MY FRIEND. SHAME ON YOU!"  
  
Jin lifted his eyebrow and looked at Julia as if she was saying something ridiculous. And Julia continued to shout, "JUST PUT YOURSELF INTO HER POSITION, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL, HOW WOULD YOU REACT TO THIS KIND SITUATION? I KNOW THIS IS A COMMON THING TO SAY BUT THINK ABOUT IT."  
  
Hwoarang stood up in front of Julia and said, "Yo, nerdy. Don't you know who you shouting at to right here? 'coz if you don't you might as well as expel yourself from this school. 'coz, who you're shouting at is the school's president's grandson, do you hear?"  
  
"So what if he is? I don't care. It doesn't mean that he is the grandson of the school's president, he has to act superior among us." Julia replied harshly and turned to Jin, who was just acting cool as if nothing is happening around him and she shouted at him again, "I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, BUT ALL I NEED FROM YOU IS A LITTLE CONSIDERATION AND MAY YOUR CONSCIENCE BOTHER YOU 'BOUT THIS!"  
  
Julia then turned away and went out of the school cafeteria ignoring all the eyes which are glued on her for all she thinks about now is her friend, Pam.  
  
As Julia went outside the school cafeteria she saw that Pam and Christie were standing by the lockers. Then she headed towards them.  
  
"I'm sorry Pam," started Julia. "But don't worry, I'll report this to this principal and I took care of that guy."  
  
Pam then looked at Julia with swollen eyes and said, "Thanks Julia...but(sniff)...what he did to me can...can change people's thoughts about...about me." She, again, buried her head to Christie's shoulder.  
  
"C'mon Pam, that's enough." Christie consoled her friend while rubbing her hands at Pam's back. "Julia and I are here for you, we're your friends, don't worry, we will always be there for you."  
  
"Christie's right, Pam." Said Julia while patting her friend's head. "And we'll make sure that, that contemptible guy will never bother you again, okay?"  
  
Pam slowly lifted her head wiped her tears and said, "Thanks, you guys are the greatest!" Then she hugged her two friends tightly and they hugged her back.  
  
"Hey, lets return to class now," Christie said. "And later this afternoon, lets visit the library."  
  
"Sure!" said Pam enthusiastically. And together they headed to class.  
  
Three o'clock struck and it was dismissal time and Jin and his friend were walking down the hallway and Jin can't stop thinking about what that girl said to him at lunch time. Her words somehow hit him.  
  
"PUT YOURSELF IN TO HER POSITION, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL, HOW WOULD YOU REACT TO THIS KIND OF SITUATION.." Her words are echoing in his mind.  
  
"Do you think, I should apologize?" said Jin to his red-headed friend, Hwoarang.  
  
"Apologize?!" said Hwoarang as if his friend had said something ridiculous. "Dude, are you outta your mind?"  
  
Jin halted his doubting friend and pushed him against the wall and said, "No, I'm not outta my mind, I mean..." then Jin released his grip and shook his head. "I mean... I can't stop thinking about the girl who shouted at me at lunch time."  
  
"DUDE? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" bellowed Hwoarang. "DON'T TELL ME YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HER?! WHAT ABOUT SUZY?"  
  
"No, I don't have a crush on her," Jin said as they started to walk into the hallway again. "And you should have known that I have already broke up with Suzy."  
  
"Poor girl." Hwoarang said as he shook his head slowly.  
  
"Nah, she was just another girl on the block." Said Jin as they turned left and suddenly he caught a glimpse of the library and remembered that he had to visit the librarian Ms. Anna Williams regarding his library card which was already expired. "Hey, you go on, I had to visit the library first."  
  
"Cool bro!" said Hwoarang as he gave Jin the thumbs up and they headed towards opposite directions.  
  
Hmm...now to find Ms. Anna, Jin thought as he passed the enormous doors of the library. He took out his expired library card, and headed towards the librarian's desk. And as he walked over to his destination something caught widely of his attention. In a table near towering columns of shelves, Jin saw again the girl in pigtails whom he humiliated at lunch time and this time she was accompanied by the girl who shouted at him and another girl, probably another friend. They were reading and studying.  
  
Jin thought of apologizing. But he hesitated for it would make him sound stupid. He thought that maybe he could just come over them and say sorry, but it was an awkward thing to do. He should think of a different approach.  
  
But first, I'll have to know their names, Jin thought. But how? And as Jin reached the librarian's desk, he saw that Ms. Anna wasn't there yet then Jin suddenly saw the wooden box in which where all the library cards are placed.  
  
Jin checked if the coast is clear. This would be the perfect way to know their names. Then Jin searched through the whole pile of library cards in the wooden box. And after a few seconds of searching he caught a glimpse of a card with a picture of a pretty girl with chinky-eyes and hair in pigtails. Jin looked for her name in the card which says:  
  
NAME: Ling, Pamela S. GRADE: 3rd Year H.S. TEACHER ADVISER: Prof. Nina Williams SECTION: Sec. A  
  
She's Chinese? Jin thought. And pretty cute too. Jin was really fascinated on how beautiful this girl called Pamela is. Then he proceeded to find the other girl's name, the one who shouted at him. He continued to look and finally he saw a card with a picture of a girl with light brown hair and brown eyes. She looked lovely but a bit too serious, although she was smiling at the picture and Jin looked for her name in the card which also says:  
  
NAME: Chang, Julia T. GRADE: 3rd Year H.S. TEACHER ADVISER: Prof. Nina Williams SECTION: Sec. A An American looking girl with a Chinese family name? Jin thought. And now to find the one that look like Jennifer Lopez. Jin then went through another search but fortunately her card was just under Julia's. Then Jin read on:  
  
NAME: Montiero, Christie A. GRADE: 3rd Year H.S. TEACHER ADVISER: Prof. Nina Williams SECTION: Sec. A  
  
As Jin was reading Christie's card a woman's voice startled him. "Can I help you Mr. Kazama?" It was Ms. Anna.  
  
"Umm...yeah, I was just looking for you, Ms. Anna," Jin said nervously. "Anyway, I need to umm...renew my library card, its expired as you can see."  
  
Jin handed his library card to Ms. Anna and she said as she reached for another card from her drawer, "Well, I just need you to fill this up and sign and when you're finish give it to me and I'll do the finishing touches, okay?"  
  
"Sure," Jin said as he took a pen from his pocket and began to scribble. And as soon as he finished he gave the card to Ms. Anna and she said, "Umm... I guess you have to wait for a moment Jin, the process might take a while."  
  
"Sure, I'll just take a walk around while waiting." Said Jin. Then he went to the shelf where Pam's table was near. He hid himself as he peeked through the girls who were reading and studying. Then for a moment, Pam rose from her seat. Jin, seeing her heading towards his direction at the bookshelf where he was hiding, he took a book, opened it and buried his face to hide.  
  
She returned a book and was looking for another one in the rows of numerous books. Jin thought she was way cuter in personal. She looks so sweet and innocent. He then, without hesitation, returned the book from which he used to hide his face and approached the girl and said, "Umm...hi, Pamela?" It was more of a question than a greeting.  
  
Pam gasped and stood still, and held a book close to her chest. She was looking at Jin wide eyed and innocently, and said in a soft voice, "(gasps) Jin Kazama, what are you doing here?"  
  
"That's not important," replied Jin also in a soft voice. "Umm...anyway, I would just apologize on what I did to you, I know it was really mean, but, the guys they were the one who talked me into it, honest. Will you forgive me?"  
  
Pam bowed down her head and said nervously, "Well...I dunno".  
  
"Pam, please, I didn't mean to do it, I'm really sorry, if there was some way I could make it up to you." Pleaded Jin as he placed his hands on Pam's shoulders and Pam looked up at him and said, "Umm."  
  
Unknown to them, Julia was heading towards them and saw them talking to each other and she seeing this, she seized her friend and brought her closer to her without any hesitation and whispered harshly to Jin, "What do you think you're doing, trying to pull another joke on my friend? Well, sorry mister, think again. Go away, leave us alone."  
  
Pam let go from Julia's grip and said softly, "Julia, he was just trying to apologize."  
  
"Yeah, Julia, could you reconsider?" Jin said.  
  
"Ha, you people are all hypocrite in nature, now be gone." Julia shooed Jin away.  
  
"(sighs) Well, guess, your friend Julia here is against me, Pam, see you around." Jin said sadly and took off.  
  
When Jin was away, Julia told Pam, "You know, you should never trust people like them, be careful, Pam. They might pull another trick on you." Pam nodded slowly and went back to their seats.  
  
As Jin went back to Ms. Anna's desk, his library card was already, ready. He thanked her and headed to the exit but when he passed the table where Pam was seated he took another glimpse of her but fortunately, Pam must've notice him pass by, so, she also looked at him and this time she smiled at him, with a sweet, pretty smile. Jin's feeling was softened. She must've forgiven me already! He thought. And he went out the library thinking of Pam. And crazy as it may seem, she was her new found dream girl.  
  
*{The Queen says: So, how was it? Please send me reviews. You'd probably been wondering why my story seemed, well, unfinished, you see, I submitted my first chapter by accident. Guess, I wasn't reading the instructions carefully, heehee. Any, way I had to replace it and the one you just read is the complete Chapter One. So, stay tuned for Chapter two which will be coming up soon!} 


	2. Betrayal

Chapter Two  
  
*{The Queen says: I know my fan fiction entry is somehow boring but for the ones who read it carefully, you'll be enjoying it. I also want some reviews, if that's not too much to ask for, but it will make me know if there are still some reading my fanfics and if I still need to continue writing. And once again, CHECK IT OUT!}  
  
Disclaimer: I don't possess any trademarks of Tekken and other signature labels I have written upon this entry.  
  
Pam came home at about six in the evening. She and her friends spent a long time in the library just like what they always do. But this time she felt tired and somehow she felt longing for something... When she entered their house she saw her mother in the kitchen getting ready for dinner and she came over to her mother.  
  
"Wan-an Xiao, sweetie," said Mrs. Ling as she continued to set the table. "How was school?"  
  
Although Pam didn't like to be called by her former Chinese name, which was Xiaoyu, because she already got used of people calling her by her new name, she still thinks that it sounds pleasing to hear especially by the slang English tone of her mother. "It was fine mama," she replied as she planted a kiss on her mother's cheek. But now, she didn't feel like talking about school especially on what happened earlier that day. "Anyway, what's for dinner. I'm starving y'know." Said Pam to change the subject about school to dinner.  
  
"Well, nothing special," said Mrs. Ling. "But I made some shrimp siomai."  
  
"Yum," Pam exclaimed as she rubbed her tummy. "I'll go get ready then!" Then she headed hurriedly for her room upstairs.  
  
As she entered her room, she threw her bag at one corner of the room and let herself collapse freely on her bed.  
  
Before she knew it, she was already in deep thought about what happened earlier that day, in school, specifically in the library. Although she tried to avoid, but somehow the longing feeling she felt was the longing feeling to see Jin. Jin Kazama. He was the school president's grandson. A totally popular guy along the school campus and not to mention good looking and rich. The thought of it made Pam scared. She wasn't scared of Jin. She was scared of Julia. Of Julia to know how she felt right now. For she instantly knew that if Julia knows that she likes Jin. Who knows what Julia might think of her as a friend, after all Julia defended her from him and she would just do something opposite in exchange. But she sees something in Jin that made him different of what Julia thinks he is. He seems nice, she thought. And so gentle, but why?  
  
Before she could answer her question, she heard a loud bang on her door. A loud knocking sound that you might think the door would fall.  
  
"Mama is calling you A-chi Xiao," called a young boy's voice. "She said we should go chia."  
  
Pam suddenly rose from bed and shouted back, "I'll be right over, Tim!"  
  
An exasperated sigh escaped her lips and she said to herself, "What's wrong me?" And then she went down to join her family to dinner.  
  
After dinner, she decided to call Julia. But before she made a permanent decision, she hesitated for she was dismayed that if she would spill something between their conversation. Something Julia wasn't suppose to hear...  
  
The phone rang twice and a voice of a young lady answered the phone, "Good evening, Julia Chang speaking, may I know who's this?"  
  
"Julia, its me." Pam answered.  
  
"Oh hello." Julia said enthusiastically. "What can I do for you, Pam?"  
  
"Oh, nothing. I just want somebody to talk to." Said Pam. "I feel so alone."  
  
"Okay, then I'll be glad to keep you company." Answered Julia. "So, have you finished your homework already?"  
  
"Yeah, we finished it at school, remember?" Pam replied.  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
Then something came over Pamela. It was like a strange energy that let her mouth spill something, something invalid. "Umm... Julia, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Yeah sure, what is it?" Julia asked.  
  
"Well, what if I'll be telling you something someday that you don't like. Will you hate me? Forever?" Pam asked cautiously.  
  
"What nonsense are you talking about, Pam?" Julia said with a chuckle. "I don't understand you."  
  
"Just answer it please." Pam pleaded.  
  
"(sigh) Well, it depends on how I'll get despised." Julia replied. "Are you satisfied then?"  
  
"Not really." Pam replied. "Nah, forget it."  
  
"Anyway," Julia spoke again. "Tomorrow we'll be having our club meetings and since I'll be in the Library, with the Math and Science Club, Christie will be in Drama club and you'll be in School Paper, then, we'll see each other at the library after our club meetings. Okay?"  
  
"Sure." Pam replied flatly.  
  
"Okay." Julia said. "If there's nothing more we'll leave this conversation up to here, then?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. Good Night Julia." Pam said. "Tsay- whey!"  
  
"Au revior!"  
  
Then Pam placed the receiver down. Whew, now that was close, she thought. What was I thinking? Then she allowed herself to collapse on her bed and drifted to her slumber.  
  
Next day came and so as the day for their club meetings session.  
  
"Then she said we should meet at the library after our meetings." Pam instructed Christie. "Okay?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." Christie said hysterically. "But where is Julia?"  
  
"Umm...she said she has to go to the library as early as possible." Pam answered.  
  
"But of course," Christie said sarcastically. "Dear Ms. Chang is the chairman of the Math and Science Club. I should've known."  
  
"Yup, but we gotta go now, the session in the school paper is about to get started." Pam said hurriedly.  
  
"Ya, and us actors too." Christie said jokingly and Pam shook her head. "See you then!"  
  
Pam arrived at the school paper's office on time. The meeting was just about to start until...  
  
There was a loud bang as the door opened and a voice of guy spoke, "Umm...is this where the school paper meeting is supposed to be held?"  
  
"Nice to see you have finally made it Mr. Kazama." Ms. Isabella Valentine, the school paper's moderator greeted mockingly. "Say, you have finally spoke face-to-face with your grandfather, eh?"  
  
Jin didn't answer as he looked for a seat. He ignored the eyes of people in the classroom that were glued on him.  
  
"Alright then, lets begin." Said Ms. Valentine.  
  
Now where am I suppose to lay my butt on? Jin thought. Then finally as he took a glance over to his left, he saw Pam, and this time she was alone. Jin then decided that it was a good time, probably the best time to with her for a little while since her cynical friend wasn't around to shout at him again.  
  
Jin walked over the seat next to Pam which was occupied by another guy. "Get off of my seat." He ordered.  
  
"But, I was here first and-", the boy started and Jin shot him an angry look. "Okay, okay, fine." The boy said as he backed away taking another seat in the other row.  
  
Jin then took his seat, turned his head towards Pam and said. "Hi, Pam!" Jin said coolly. "Nice too see you again."  
  
Pam was busy jotting down notes on what Ms. Valentine was saying and her precious note taking was disturbed by greeting by the person next to him.  
  
Pam knew it was Jin and she tensely greeted back, "Uh, nice to see you too."  
  
"I see that your friend Jelly isn't around." Jin said.  
  
"Um, its Julia and she is in the library together with the Math and Science club, actually." Pam replied. "And by the way, I didn't know you're in the School Paper?"  
  
"Well, actually, I am not part of any organization around here," Jin answered. "But my grandfather insisted me on this one 'coz he thought I got some talents in journalism. Think about that, sheesh."  
  
"Uh, I dunno you could develop, y'know."  
  
"Hmm, maybe," Jin said nodding his head slowly and the light bulb in his head flickered and he asked, "Hey, maybe we could write together, you know, like teaching me."  
  
"I don't think so," Pam replied. "You see, I am here because I am one of the animator staff."  
  
"Well, maybe I could switch to animation." Jin said.  
  
"That if you have talent in arts." Pam said.  
  
"Maybe," Jin answered. "Hey, how about if I take you home after school, will that be okay?"  
  
Pam felt her heart leap and she answered without thinking, "Sure."  
  
"Great," Jin said happily, "Then we'll go out of class together!"  
  
"Where is she?" Julia yelled outside the library while taking a glance at her wristwatch. "I checked their room and she wasn't there."  
  
"I dunno," Christie replied. "I thought she was the one who even told me to come here after the meeting session."  
  
"And I personally told her last night when she called," Julia said angrily. "And even if she didn't wanna meet us here, she should have told us."  
  
"Well, we better call her tonight." Christie suggested.  
  
"Great, just great." Julia sneered. "And we were suppose to do our report in Social Studies together."  
  
"We better do it by ourselves then." Christie said.  
  
"Yeah, we better go home and settle this tomorrow," Julia said wearily. "I'm beat."  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
"...then take a left turn, and go straight ahead." Pam directed Jin and he maneuvered.  
  
"Wow, going through your subdivision is like a maze," Jin said as he drive. "It's a-maze-ing."  
  
"Yeah right."  
  
And after a few turns they have finally reached their destination.  
  
"So, this is your place, huh?" Jin asked as her examined the place.  
  
"Uhuh." Pam replied.  
  
"Well, y'know maybe I can go visit for sometime." Jin said.  
  
"Well, I guess you are always welcome."  
  
Pam smiled at Jin. A smile so sweet that he cannot resist.  
  
"Uh, I guess, I had to go home now." He said as he avoided Pam's face.  
  
"Sure, no problem." Pam said coolly as she opened the car door. "Bye then, see you tomorrow."  
  
"Wait," Jin seized her for a moment. "Um, how about we eat lunch together tomorrow? Will that be okay with you?"  
  
Pam suddenly remembered Julia. What would she do if she catches me together with Jin? Pam thought. There was a long silence between them.  
  
"Or do you much prefer to be with your friends," Jin said as he broke the silence between them. "I'll understand-"  
  
"No, no, no," Pam interrupted. "It'll be okay with me. Its better that we get to know each other better."  
  
"Alright then," Jin said. "Then I'll be seeing you again at lunch, meet me outside the cafeteria, okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
Julia closed her book and placed it inside her bag. At last, I've finished my book report, she thought. But it must've been better doing it with some worthwhile company (sigh); I guess I'll call Pam.  
  
Julia lifted the receiver and began to dial Pam's number. It rang thrice and a young boy answered.  
  
"Hello?" Came a voice from the other end of the line, which sounded slang with Chinese accent. Julia then recognized the voice.  
  
"Umm, Hello," Julia greeted sweetly. "Tim, may I speak with your sister, please."  
  
"Just a sec."  
  
After a few seconds, a different voice answered. It was Pam. "Hello."  
  
"Oh, good evening, Pam." Julia started.  
  
"Oh, hi Julia, wassup?" Pam said.  
  
"I just want to ask you something." Julia replied.  
  
"Uhuh."  
  
"Where in the world did you go after school?" Julia asked with a tone of rage.  
  
Pam suddenly remembered that she has to meet Julia and Christie at the library after the club meetings. And she suddenly found herself making up excuses.  
  
"I...uh...had to go home," she said anxiously. "I...had...uh...a sudden ache. Yeah, that's it."  
  
"Ache?" Julia interrogated.  
  
"Headache actually." Pam said nervously.  
  
"(sigh) Then why didn't you tell us?" Julia said with a tone of relief in her voice.  
  
"It's because I can't resist to go home and we were dismissed earlier," she said normally. "You should understand, Julia."  
  
"Okay, okay," Julia consoled. "So, have you already finished your book report?"  
  
"I'm still working on it," Pam replied. "I'm no genius like you who could finish a whole book report only for an hour."  
  
Julia giggled and said, "Yeah right, although it could have been much better if we had to share our ideas while working on it."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so..."  
  
"Well, see you later," Julia said. "I think that you still need to finish your report, bye!"  
  
"Bye." Pam muttered. She then placed the receiver down and sat on her chair and thought. Gee, I just fooled my best friend, she thought. How long could I keep this from Julia?  
  
Next day after morning session classes...  
  
"We better hurry to the cafeteria or else we will not be having any table," Christie said while walking quickly.  
  
"You are so right," Julia said. "The best and only way to avoid being left out is to have a table reserved."  
  
They arrived at the cafeteria on time and they found an empty table to seat on, which was a great relief.  
  
"Whew, that was close." Christie said while huffing and puffing.  
  
"Um, guys?" Pam asked hesitantly.  
  
"What is it, Pam?" Julia asked anxiously. "Aren't you feeling well?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm feeling okay," Pam said. "But I guess I wouldn't be joining you for lunch today."  
  
Pam bit her lower lip nervously. Then Julia asked, "Then, where are you going?"  
  
"Um, I-I will be seeing the, um, school paper staff," Pam said, making an excuse. "Yeah, that's right."  
  
"Well, then, we'll be seeing each other after lunch, okay?" asked Julia.  
  
"Sure," Pam assured. "Bye then!"  
  
Pam walked out of the cafeteria nervously as she was going to wait for Jin. Fortunately, as she went through the doors, Jin was already waiting for her.  
  
"Hi, Pam!" Jin greeted. Pam smiled and said, "Hi."  
  
"Where are we suppose to get lunch then?" Pam asked.  
  
"Follow me..." Jin responded as he got hold of Pam's freehand and lead he way.  
  
Jin was taking Pam to his friends. They were sitting in a shed in the grounds of the school's football field. They were very noisy.  
  
"Oh, here comes big boss," said Hwoarang ironically. "And look who's with him."  
  
"Oh, Jin don't tell me you are importing friends from the out-crowd," Hazel commented and the whole gang laughed hysterically. "What's she doing here anyway?"  
  
"Um, Jin, I think I don't belong here," Pam whispered to Jin, feeling hurt from all the mocking she heard from Jin's friends.  
  
Jin felt a rise in his temperature and whispered back to Pam, "Let's get outta here."  
  
"Hey, where are you going?" Hwoarang asked.  
  
Jin turned to Hwoarang and said, "Well, it seems that we're not welcome here."  
  
"No, wait, you are welcome, and she isn't," answered Nick.  
  
"Then if she isn't, same goes for me, see you someday losers," Jin said while walking away, taking Pam with him.  
  
"What was that all about?" Hazel asked. "Why of all a sudden, Jin is defending that geek?"  
  
"I don't know, babe, Grandpa's boy seems a little weird right now," Hwoarang responded. "But don't worry everyone, I'm gonna find out."  
  
Pam was lowering her head while walking, she felt angry towards Jin's friends for mocking her as if she was just wasn't there. She hates it when people say something harsh about her.  
  
As for Jin, he was worried about Pam. What does she think of me now, Jin thought. I hate those losers; they'll pay.  
  
There was silence between them as they walked away from the football field. "Where are we going now?" Pam asked breaking the silence.  
  
"Well, we could go to my grandfather's office and eat there," Jin jerked his head into Pam's direction.  
  
"But Jin," Pam said anxiously. "I'm too shy."  
  
"Well, don't be and I promise it'll be okay."  
  
Then they headed towards school president's office, hand in hand.  
  
As they reached the office, they received a warm welcome from Heihachi Mishima's secretary.  
  
"Oh, hi there Jin, having lunch here?" asked Ms. Annabelle asked.  
  
"Yeah, Ms. Annabelle, is grandpa around?" Jin asked.  
  
"No he's out of town right now, your Uncle Lee is supervising for the meantime," she responded. "And may I know what the lovely young lady's name is?"  
  
"I'm Pamela Ling, ma'am," Pam answered back. "Nice to meet you."  
  
"Nice to meet you too, Pamela." Replied Ms. Annabelle. "And you two better have your lunch now, its 11:30 already."  
  
"Sure, Ms. Annabelle," said Jin and then turned to Pam. "Right this way, Pam."  
  
Pam followed Jin as they went in the door with the label: Mishima Polytechnic School President. As they were in, Pam was surprised to see an office that looked much like an apartment in which you could see a mini- living room; which includes a TV set, sofa, and everything, a mini-library, and a terrace with a mini-dining set.  
  
"Wow, your grandpa's office sure is spacious," Pam exclaimed. "Then, where are we gonna get lunch?"  
  
"Well, I'm gonna call for someone from the kitchen to deliver us something to eat," Jin informed. "How does pizza sound?"  
  
Pam giggled, which made her look so cute to Jin. Moreover, she said, "Pizza, sounds great!"  
  
"Cool." Then Jin turned to the intercom as Pam roamed around the vast office. After calling, Jin turned to Pam, who was now studying a rare looking statue. "Pizza will be served in twenty minutes, lets wait."  
  
"Um, so, how do you find me somehow?" Jin asked unknowingly.  
  
"Excuse me?" Pam answered, somehow confused.  
  
"What I mean is, what do you of me as a friend right now?"  
  
Pamela still didn't understand what Jin really meant and why he's asking her this question, straightly, which is so out of the topic. However, she decided to answer him on what she understood anyway. "Well, I can say is that, you have been so nice towards me, lately, and I guess you're just fine." Pam answered.  
  
"Disregarding what your friends think of me, since I knew that you had been keeping this to them." Jin asked again.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so, but why are you asking these questions?"  
  
"Well, Pam, you should know that since I met you in the library I somehow developed a crush on you and I just can't keep myself away from you. I really admire you very much, and that means I really like you very much." Said Jin with a sign of frankness in his voice in which made Pam felt uneasy.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Pam asked innocently.  
  
Jin went closer to her. He touched her face gently. Pam closed her eyes slowly, feeling the sensation. As Jin whispered to her ear, "If I were to ask you if we could be closer to one another, will you consider that?"  
  
Pam was shocked on what she just heard. Instead of answering, Pam looked at Jin, straight in his eyes, with her eyebrows about to meet.  
  
Jin considered her reaction, positive, somehow. He held his head closer to Pam's and lowered his face. Preparing to touch her lips with his, without saying anything.  
  
As for Pam, she couldn't somehow react nor move. She was paralyzed by the whole situation. She couldn't do anything but let herself get in what Jin desires...  
  
Jin was just about to do what he was about to do, after a loud knock was heard. Jin released his hand from Pam's face  
  
Jin opened the door and it was Mr. Ganryu, the Head of the School's Janitorial. He was pushing a trolley and wearing a pouting face.  
  
"(Sigh) I don't why, kid, but a Head of the School's Janitorial should not be treated as a waiter." He commented. "But here y'go kids, enjoy your pizza."  
  
"Thanks, sir, but remind me to ask my grandfather to hire someone to do some help in the kitchen." Jin answered politely.  
  
"Yeah, whatever, I'll be going now."  
  
Jin closed the door and turned to Pam, who was now speechless, "Um, lets eat in the terrace."  
  
Pam nodded her head quietly, headed to the terrace, and sat on the chair as Jin placed the pizza and drinks on the table.  
  
"Pam, I'm so sorry," Jin started. "I-I can't help it...and I understand if you're disappointed."  
  
Pam wasn't disappointed she was shocked. After all, Jin wasn't a kind of person who has many clues to show.  
  
"I'm not disappointed at you, Jin." Pam answered unknowingly, which made Jin's eyes widen.  
  
"You aren't?" Pam shook her head. "Well, if you aren't, how's about answering my question?"  
  
Pam raised her eyebrows. "Won't you mind if I ask you out tonight?" Jin asked.  
  
Pam smiled as she took a bite out of her pizza. She likes me, Jin thought.  
  
"I can't believe you went out with a girl like that." Hwoarang said following Jin who was a avoiding him.  
  
Jin let put a an exasperated sigh and said mockingly, "And I can't believe you are still talking to me."  
  
"Jin, hello, you're my friend, remember?" said Hwoarang.  
  
"I can't remember any friend of mine with such a stinkin' attitude," Jin said as he continued to walk away from Hwoarang as he walked towards his seat.  
  
"Aw, c'mon Jin, I mean you are starting to hangout with people, especially girls, of the different kind," Hwoarang commented. "Doesn't that bother you at all?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, no." Jin answered coolly.  
  
"Why?" asked Hwoarang.  
  
"Well, first of all, I believe that people don't seem as they are physically 'coz because what matters most is what's inside. Second, you should start reading, 'coz the famous saying "...don't judge the book by its cover..." really applies to this whole situation and third, I really don't know why I'm making such a fool out of myself performing a speech in front of a moron like you."  
  
Hwoarang rolled his eyes as he shook his head. "That's what I really like 'bout you bro. I mean you are so, so straight, when it comes to talkin'."  
  
"Yeah right," Jin said rolling his eyes. Hwoarang patted his back.  
  
Julia flipped a page of her book and closed it. Christie and her were waiting for Pam. They seated on a bench near the basketball court.  
  
"Where could she be now?" Julia asked.  
  
Christie took her headphones off he head. "What did you just say? I didn't hear you."  
  
Julia sighed irritably. "I said, where could Pam be?"  
  
"I don't know, but she'll be here any minute."  
  
A few moments later Pam emerged from a distant view walking towards them. This time she looked different. She was wearing her hair down.  
  
"Hi guys," she greeted them with a surprising normal tone, no longer the kiddy one.  
  
"Pam? Is that you?" Christie asked astonishingly.  
  
"Um, yeah, I kinda did something to my hair, actually," Pam replied as she smoothed her hair.  
  
"So, what are we waiting for? Lets go home now." Julia said as she collected all her stuff.  
  
"Uh, Julia wait." Pam said as she halted Julia.  
  
"What is it?" Julia asked.  
  
"Um, uh, remember the time when I called you and I asked you something which you think was ridiculous?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so." Julia answered.  
  
"Um, I kinda had to ask you same question right now, hope you won't be mad at me. Would you?" Pam said nervously.  
  
"As I told you, it depends on the situation." Julia answered.  
  
"Okay, remember Jin Kazama, the guy who humiliated me in the school cafeteria days ago?"  
  
"Uhuh, yeah, so? Did he do something to you again? 'Coz if he did, he'd better watch out." Julia replied with a raise in her voice.  
  
"No, Julia, actually, um, he's...my," Pam paused for a while and took a deep breath. "He's my boyfriend."  
  
Julia and Christie's jaw dropped. Julia shook her head and said, "Pam?"  
  
Then Jin and Hwoarang emerged from somewhere. Then Jin put his arm on Pam's shoulder and spoke, "Yes, Julia its true."  
  
Julia kept on shaking her as tears formed in her eyes. She was taken aback by the situation, which hit her straight and unprepared.  
  
She once again collected her stuff awkwardly and turned to Pam, who was now looking to ground, with teary eyes, "I can't believe you, Pam." Then she turned to Christie, "Let's go Christie, and let's get outta here."  
  
"I know I hadn't been totally honest with you guys but I'm so sorry, I- " Pam's sentence was interrupted when Julia suddenly bellowed, "Sorry? After all what you did? I still can't believe after all what that jerk did to you and still you sided with him. I guess I was wrong in honoring you as friend. Good Bye."  
  
Christie sighed and shook her head as she followed Julia who was now walking away, fast.  
  
"Julia, Christie wait," Pam said as she tried to catch up. "I'm so sorry."  
  
Pam suddenly burst into tears. "Oh, Jin, its all my fault...(sniff)"  
  
"Told you that nerd has no consideration, believe me." Hwoarang sneered.  
  
"No, Julia just misunderstood," Pam answered. "But I know she will. I hope."  
  
"That's enough Pam, I'll talk to Julia," Jin consoled Pam as he wiped her face from tears.  
  
"I don't think she'll listen to you, Jin" Pam replied. "I'll go try talk to her, and Christie, and I hope they'll listen."  
  
*{The Queen says: Now, chapter two is finished. Hope you somehow understood the story, especially to those who are hungry for humor fanfics. Anyway, if you have comments or violent reactions, feel free to review or e-mail me at www.agent_xtremequeen@yahoo.com. I know I have not talked about Julia quite often but I have big plans for her so stay tuned for CHAPTER THREE! Thank you for reading.} 


	3. A New Outlook of HER

Chapter Three 

*{**The Queen says:** First of all, I had to thank those concerned readers who reviewed me, I truly appreciate that. So, for other readers, please oh please send me reviews or just simply mail me 'coz if ever, I'll be replying. Anyway sorry if this came out late for I had been very busy at school (as usual). Just a reminder guys, this is just my "trial story". Anyway, this is the third chapter of my entry. This chapter is mostly or even just about good ol' Julia. So, once again, if ever you have anything to say just review or e-mail me. Okay? Good.}

**Disclaimer:** I have no intentions on claiming Tekken labels, trademarks, names, indicia, etc. as mine.

    Julia tapped her pencil on the computer keyboard. She felt so distracted in doing her research work. Disturbed by the thought of Pam, who was now having a good ol' relationship with hot shot Jin Kazama.

    "Sheesh, how did we ever know each other anyway," Julia said to herself. "Some friend she is." Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialled Christie's number.

    "Um, Good evening, could I speak to Christie, please" Julia said after the phone was answered on the third ring. "This is Julia."

    "Oh, hi Julia, just a sec," said a motherly voice from the end of the line.

    Moments later, Christie answered the phone. "Wassup Jules?"

    "Um, nothing, I-I just had to talk to someone. That's all." Julia answered gloomily.

    "Oh, its about Pam and her instant relationship, huh?" Christie asked.

    "Yeah," Julia replied. "I mean, I can't believe it, I-I was so shocked. I mean..."

    Christie halted Julia, saying, "I know, it surprised me too. But we had to accept it. Pam likes Jin. I mean what could we possibly do? Tear them apart?"

    "(sigh) You're right, of course." Julia answered wearily. "Well, that's all , I guess."

    "Whoa, c'mon Jules, cheer up, let's just talk this over with Pam, alright?" Christie consoled her friend.

    "NO, absolutely not, I'm not talking to her if she doesn't apologize to-." Julia bellowed.

    "Hold on Jules, Take it easy."  Christie seized Julia's words. "Its not like Pam did a mortal sin against the Ten Commandments. We just lack a little attention and understanding to her. I mean, who knows, maybe Jin really is a good guy, only that he is surrounded by a rude group of friends."

    "I guess you're right again, but Pam has no reason for that, I mean just think of what Jin did to her, wasn't that a big proof that Jin isn't the guy for her." Julia said after Christie finished her discussion. "Anyway, that's all, I guess. Bye Christie. Good night."

    "(sigh)Same to you Jules, Bye!" Christie then hung up. Julia returned the receiver and went to the bathroom to wash.

     A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom ready for bed. She threw herself upon the soft mattress and thought before she closing her eyes. _I just can't believe that an unexpected person like a Pam can do this to me…_She thought as she gradually drifted to her slumber.      

Next day at school, Art Class...

    "Okay just remember class-", Mr. Paul Phoenix words were cut off when an unexpected person emerges in the classroom. "Ah, nice to have you in our art class Mr. Kyung. You have finally decided to join us, I see."

    The red-headed boy found a seat at the back of Julia's. He slammed his backpack on the floor and slouched in his seat.

    "Alright then, back to our discussion," Mr. Phoenix said. "Now where was I?"

    "About this semester's project sir." Julia corrected.

    "Of course, thank you Miss Chang." Mr. Phoenix replied. And not a second later the bell rang. It was already dismissal time.

    Students began to pack their stuff and got ready to get out of the classroom. "HOLD IT!" Mr. Phoenix yelled. "Before you leave, I had to give you your project assignments."

    Students moaned and groaned as they went back to their seats.

    Mr. Phoenix ignored them as he picked his class record up and announced as he scribbled something, "Our project's theme will be about the Ancient History of Japan. Some of you will be making posters, conducting researches, reports,  or other work of arts."

    "History of Japan?" A student reacted mockingly from the back. "Can't we get anything better like modernization stuff or something?"

    "Hmm, good question." Mr. Phoenix said as he held his chin. "Anyway, the president was the one who suggested this so no arguments, okay?"

    More groans and moans from the class but still Mr. Phoenix ignored them. "Alright then, I'll be assigning you in pairs, so all in all there'll be fifteen pairs. Okay, first pair, uh, Ms. Chang..."

    Julia, then stared at Mr. Phoenix hoping to be paired with a worthy someone. Then Mr. Phoenix continued, "I've paired you with Mr. Kyung and you two will be making a mural near the football field."

    Julia's eyes widened and without hesitation she objected, "But sir-"

    "No buts Julia," Mr. Phoenix halted her opposition. "I decided Mr. Kyung needs to be paired with someone as experienced as you."

    Julia sighed heavily. _Great_, Julia thought. _Now things will be much harder._ Then she felt someone stabbed her back.

    "Ouch!" Julia yelped. Then she turned and realised that it was Hwoarang. "What'd you do that for?"

    "Sorry," Hwoarang smirked. "Anyway, I can't even believe I've been paired with a nerd either."

    Julia rolled her eyes. "So?"

    "So, let's just make some plans earlier and make things go straight fast so that I won't be mistaken hangin' out with some other people. Okay?" Hwoarang s

aid conceitedly.

    "Whatever." Julia answered as she turned her back away from him.

    "Okay, now class dismissed." Mr. Phoenix declared as he finished announcing the pairs.

    Hwoarang was just about to leave when Julia called him hesitantly. "Hwoarang, wait."

    "What do you want?" Hwoarang answered annoyingly.

    "You want things to be fast, don't you?"

    "Yeah, so?" He answered.

    "So, meet me here at about 8:00 am tomorrow. And don't forget to bring some paint and necessary art materials." Julia said.

    "Hey, I got better plans for my Saturday than spending it working for some dumb project."

    "Then I guess I have to tell Mr. Phoenix to fail you instead, eh?" Julia said with a smirk.

    "(sigh) Alright, 8:00." Hwoarang said approvingly.

    "And don't worry I'm not here to wreck your reputation." Julia said. Then she scurried away bumping Hwoarang's shoulder purposely, which caused his backpack to fall. And Julia heard him comment from afar, "Hey, what's the small idea?"

    Julia ignored him.

That night, Julia worked hard on planning and sketching for their mural. _I just can't believe I've been paired with that punk_, Julia thought. _He won't help. I just know it. I'd rather be paired with someone suffering form dyslexia._

Hwoarang strummed his electric guitar playfully. _I can't believe I've been paired with that nerdy_, Hwoarang thought. _Now I'm going to spend my Saturday making a mural. I'm totally pissed off._

    _Man, I feel hungry,_ he thought as he felt his stomach grumble. _Gotta grab something to munch. _

    He returned his electric guitar to its proper place and went out of his room. The soft carpeted floor of the Kyung mansion tickling his bare feet.

    He went down the stairs and into the vast kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice and a placed a handful of chewy oatmeal cookies on a plastic plate. Then he headed for his room.

    As he entered his room he sat and pigged-out on his snack. As he finished, a knock was heard on his door.

    "Come in," Hwoarang said. Then a man emerges into the room. He has the same body-build as Hwoarang only slightly taller and his hair was undid, it was brown. He wore a dark colour polo shirt and pants.

    Hwoarang suddenly sat-up straight and said, "What is it, dad?"

    "Well, I was just wondering if you have something to do tomorrow?" Mr. Kyung answered in a way a teenager's dad would approach a son. Hwoarang raised his eyebrows in a then-what-is-it way. Mr. Kyung decided to continue, "Maybe because you and I could hang-out and play some golf and stuff, y'know father and son stuff."

    _Oh, boy here we go again_, Hwoarang thought. Its not like he doesn't like his dad its just that he doesn't want to hang-out with him these days unlike when he was younger and used to force his father to take him to work at their company which their family owned. And now he has to make a good excuse to avoid it and fortunately the mural thing came to his mind.

    "Um, I'd like to dad," Hwoarang began. "But, you see, we have this mural thing at school and I had to go there and do it."

    "On Saturdays? But you usually hated to go back at school at Saturdays." His father asked. Hwoarang scratched his head. "(sigh) Well, I can't force you. Guess you'll be seeing another pretty girl at school, huh?" His dad added playfully as he nudged his arm.

    "Dad!" Hwoarang commented. "It's a project."

    "Alright, alright." His dad backed. "But maybe we can do this father and son bonding thing next time, eh?"

    "Maybe next time, dad. I promise." Hwoarang said as his dad nodded his head and patted his shoulder and exited his room.

    _Seeing a pretty girl? Yeah right. Dorky girl, that's more like it_, he thought sarcastically as laid down on his untidy bed with his arms at the back of his head and he closed his eyes ready to sleep.

    Then randomly, in his mind's eye, he pictured Julia's face. She seemed to be beauty only hidden under red-framed glasses and un-styled hair and foremost, a face with no make-up. Then, magically on his mind, he transformed her. Right now, she was wearing a strapless cream coloured silky gown that reached the floor. Her chestnut brown hair was down and her chocolate brown eyes sparkling. Her lips kissable red and her face, smooth and as silky as her gown. She was very attractive and well-done...

    Hwoarang, then opened his eyes and seized that thought. _What am I thinking about?_ He said to himself._ There's no way I'm gonna fall for that. _And moments later he fell asleep.

Next day, Hwoarang arrived at Mishima High football field finding Julia was already starting with the work. And he thought that it was nothing unusual and headed towards her.

Julia dipped her brush on a bucket of blue paint as she felt someone coming close to her.

    She turned her back just to see her partner drawing close to her. _Great, just what I needed. Company, damn company_, she thought glumly.

    "Wow, you seem early," Hwoarang commented.

    "Seem?" Julia answered angrily as she turned her back towards him. "I seem early? Hah, do you know what hour of the day is it, mister?"

    "Well, I happen to know," Hwoarang said coolly as he glanced obediently at his watch,. "Its nine twenty-six am." Then he smiled at Julia with one of his seducing smiles. 

    Julia somehow fell for it, he seemed cuter though. But she fought back. "I thought we had an agreement. Eight thirty, right? And where are your art materials, I thought I reminded you to bring."

    "OH, right! Sorry, I forgot," Hwoarang said playfully as he scratched the back of his head. "And I thought it was nine thirty, that's why when I came I thought I was early."

    Julia breathed loudly and rolled her eyes. "Whatever." Then she turned her back and continued the mural.

    Hwoarang started to sit down on the grass with his back against the wall. He took his portable CD player and said, "Just tell me if you need me."

    _Yeah, right. I need you for nothing._ Julia thought cynically. 

One hour later…

    _Damn, I've been working for an hour already._ Julia thought and she glanced at Hwoarang who was now busy listening to his CD's. _You can't never count on a partner like him._

    Julia dipped her brush to some blue paint. She stretched her hand to reach the highest edge of the wall t paint the sky.

    "I can't reach it," She said to herself. Then she thought of Hwoarang. "I admit it, I somehow need his help right now."

    She walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder and called upon him. "Hwoarang, I think need some help here." No answer. He ignored her purposely. He continued to nod his head to the beat of the music while his eyes closed. 

    "Hello, is anybody home?" Julia said as she raised her voice. But still he didn't answer. She even shook him. But then again she guessed he was just being playful again.

    _Childish little brat,_ she thought. _So, you wanna be playful, eh?_ Julia dipped her brush into some rich red colored paint. And as the brush was coated with thick red paint, she aimed her hand at Hwoarang and flipped the brush, allowing thick drops of red paint to fall upon him.

    "HEY WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" Hwoarang shouted as he raised himself from his position and started wiping red paint from his clothes. "Don't you know that this jacket costs more than half of you life?"

    "Sorry, no. But right now I need your help." Julia said coolly and at the same sarcastically. "And, oh, now you have matching colored hair and jacket." 

    _So, she wants to play,_ He thought. _Then I'll give her time to play._ He caught a brush and dipped it to a can of yellow paint. He flipped it and did the same thing on Julia.

    "Eeek!!!," she shouted. "Why you-you-"

    "Hah, now were even." Hwoarang laughed.

    Without further thought, Julia grabbed a can of blue paint and splashed it on Hwoarang who was now laughing hysterically and wasn't aware of what Julia was going to do.

    "NO!" He shouted as thick splashes of paint dumped on him. 

    Then Julia was now laughing as if there was no tomorrow. "You-you- look like a smurf! Haw, haw, ha, ha!"

    Hwoarang laughed with her for a moment and suddenly dumped a can of green paint on her and rubbed her head messing her neatly pony-tailed hair.

    "And now you look life one of those little green men." Hwoarang teased. Julia also fought back by splashing some yellow paint on him. They fought back at each other splashing paint all over the area. They looked like playful little children enjoying every moment of it. And at that very moment, they forgot their grudges againts one another…

They played childishly with paint for what seems like an hour, and they finally got tired of it. The two of them helped each other clean their dreadful mess. Then they decided to get some lunch.

    "I'll have a cheeseburger, large fries, regular coke and some frozen yoghurt," Hwoarang ordered at the drive-in counter of the fast food restaurant. "What about you, what are you having? And don't worry its on me." Hwoarang said as he turned on Julia.

    "Um, I'll just have a chicken burger and a regular coke, please." Julia replied politely. 

    "You heard it, and add another yoghurt in that." Hwoarang said facing the drive-in counter and it answered, "Got it sir and you can pick up your order now sir."

    Hwoarang stepped on the accelerator and forwarded his car to the cashier's window.

    "Here are your orders sir," the sweet smiling lady at the counter said as she handed a couple of bags. "And thank you, come again."

    Hwoarang accepted them, paid the lady and drove along.

    "Man, I'm beat," Julia muttered as she wiped her rainbow colored hands full of dried paint with wet tissues.

    "Yeah me too," Hwoarang answered as he handed Julia her order. "And I'm starving." Then he took out his burger and took a greedy bite.

    They went silent for a while, eating their lunch as they drove along the traffic. And after eating their food, Julia spoke, "Hey, when are we gonna finish our mural?"

    "We'll start again next week, and I promise," Hwoarang replied as he faced Julia with a smile.

    "And you better do," Julia said as she playfully pointed her finger at him like a child. "Or else, we'll fail in Mr. Phoenix's Art class."

    "I promise," Hwoarang said with sincerity in his voice and placed his hand on his chest, as if vowing. Then he turned on the radio and heavy metal rock came on.

    "You listen to this stuff?" Julia asked.

    "Of course," Hwoarang answered eagerly. "Its still called music isn't it?"

    "Not if your me," Julia replied. "I consider it as noise." Hwoarang shrugged. 

    Then they drove to Julia's place silently listening to the boisterous sound coming out of the car's stereo.    

Moments later, a black Porsche stopped in front of an old Victorian style house.

    _This must be her place,_ Hwoarang thought. _Hmm, typically her type of house._

    "Here we are," Julia said as she collected her stuff and prepared to go out of the car. "And thanks for the lift."

    "Yeah, anytime." Hwoarang answered.

    Then Julia opened the car door just as before Hwoarang halted her, "Um, Julia, wait."

    "Hmm?" Julia asked confusingly.

    Then Hwoarang held out his hand for a shake and said, "Nice knowing ya!" Then Julia took his hand and shook with it and replied, "You too."

    Then, unexpectedly, Hwoarang didn't let go of Julia's hand. He pressed his lips on her hand like a gentleman would on a fine lady. He kissed it and said quietly, "You're one of a kind, really."

    Julia giggled. She couldn't help her gentle attitude. And said, "(sigh) See you then."

    "Um, wait, one more thing," Hwoarang said. "Can I have your phone number?"

    Julia shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Sure, why not?"

    Hwoarang got a piece of scratch paper and pen and handed it to Julia. Then she scribbled down a couple of numbers at the paper.

    "Thanks," Hwoarang said gratefully as Julia handed him the paper. "I'll call you." Then he waved his hand and drove along.

    Julia waved until the car was already out of sight. _That was weird,_ she thought as she went inside the house. _Sometime ago we were like enemies and now we were so close._ Then she smiled to herself.

Hwoarang whistled gleefully at the tone of the music although, hard core heavy metal rock barely had a melody. But right now, he wasn't being himself. It was a positive attitude though. And it was a familiar behavior too, for it was his behavior towards girls. Girls who intrigued him the most.

    He can't believe he was now interested in the least expected girl of his life, Julia T. Chang. And not only that, she didn't even care what happened back then including him kissed her hand, which means she takes him as sincere as he does, although he's not so sure.

    He glanced down at the neatly scribbled numbers on a piece of scratch paper he held in his sweaty palms. _Man, I'm already falling for her_, he thought gladly although, he doubted. _I was really wrong about her_._ Anyway, I'll be calling her tonight._

*{The Queen says: Whew! Another chapter finished. AT LAST! Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Although, I know some of you must've disliked my pairings, you know, Julia/Hwoarang & Xiaoyu/Jin. Anyway, sorry again if this came out too late. And please, if possible, could I get some more reviews from you out there, okay? Or better yet e-mail me @ agent_xtremequeen@yahoo.com. See y'all next time. 

       

  


	4. Lost in Gaze

Chapter Four 

*{The Queen says}: Another chapter of my entry. First of all, I would like to say thanks again to those who cared to review me; I truly appreciate your cooperation. By the way, in this chapter, you'll be reading more about Hwoarang and Julia on what'll be the outcome of their instant friendship. (Hey, do you think Hwoarang and Julia make a good match? Korean & Native American? Well, I have nothing better in mind to pair with Julia). Then again, read on and enjoy! R & R please! 

Disclaimer: Once again, I have no intentions on claiming the video game trademark, labels, signatures, or indicia I have mentioned in this said entry as mine.

Hwoarang turned the ignition off as he parked his car in the vast parking lot outside the Kyung mansion and prepared to get out of his black Porsche just as he caught a glance of a folded piece of bond paper on the front seat where Julia was sitting before.

    "What's this piece of trash?" He said to himself as he grabbed the paper and unfolded it. 

    As he unfolded it, he saw a something, somewhat of a sketch. It was the sketch Julia made for the mural.

    _Wow, Julia has some great imagination in portraying things_, he thought as he took it with him and got out of the car. _But it looked different from the painting on the wall_.

Julia yawned lazily as she sat on her bed and grabbed her backpack. _Now, I had to get my sketch for the mural for a little improvising,_ she thought as she took things out from her bag. _I had to find a way to make the mural as good as my sketch._

    It took her a few moments to search though her pack and realize that it was not there.

    "Oh my, where is it?" she said to herself. She searched hurriedly through her desk and throughout her room and a thought came to her head. _Oh God, I must've left it in Hwoarang's car_.

    She sighed heavily and thought of calling him. She took the phone and prepared to dial. _Call? Yeah right. I don't know his number yet._ She thought glumly as she returned the phone to its proper place and another thing struck her head. _The phone directory, of course!_ She thought gladly.

    She grabbed the phone directory and scanned through the pages. _K-y-u-n-g,_ she thought as she flipped the K pages one by one. Fortunately, there was only one surname registered as Kyung all throughout the phone directory. Seeing the number, Julia quickly got held of the phone, lifted the receiver, and started to dial.

    It rang twice and a manly decent voice with a strange accent answered politely at the end of the line, "Good afternoon. Kyung residence. May I help you?"

    "Um, good afternoon, I would like to speak to Hwoarang please," Julia responds as politely as she could.

    "And may I know who's speaking?" The voice demanded politely.

    "Uh, this is Julia, a friend from school."

    "I hope you don't mind to wait miss Julia, I had to call him," the voice informed.

    "Sure." Julia answered perkily.

     A few moments, a harsh teenage boy answered the phone, "Yup!"

    "Hello, Hwoarang," Julia greeted. He sounded different over the phone though, he sounded like a little boy.

    "Kirsten, hi!" Hwoarang greeted back but he continued before Julia could even make a sound, "Hey, by the way, if you're calling about seeing each other, guess what? My parents are out of town 'till next week and Hazel and I just broke up recently. So, how's about me pickin' you up right now so you can come over and stay at my place for a while, babe?"

    Julia chuckled at the end of the line. "What's wrong? What's so funny? Was it something I said?" Hwoarang asked confused.

    "Yeah, its everything you said. By the way, this isn't your precious Kirsten calling, it's your nerdy folk Julia and hey, if you don't mind, you got a new girl replacement already?"

    Hwoarang felt himself turned scarlet. "Oh, I'm so sorry Julia, I-I thought you were somebody else and yes, Kirsten's my new one."

    "Whoa, that was fast," Julia commented. "By the way, I'm calling about my mural sketch, you know the piece of bond paper I was holding along? Is it with you?"

    "Oh, this..." Hwoarang replied as he pulled a piece of paper from his trashy desk.

    "Yeah, _that_, I guess." Julia answered as she heard sound of paper. "Um, I was hoping you could turn it over on Monday."

    "Sure, I could even turn it over now if you want," Hwoarang replied excitedly. He was just feeling happy in seeing Julia again, but that was weird and he doesn't know the reason why.

    "Nah, I don't want to bother you and besides I'm not really in a hurry, I was just hoping to make a little improvising with our work and I was just checkin' it out in case it got lost or something or I'll go ballistic, you know how much time I've spent on it." Julia explained in the other line.

    "Y-yeah, okay, if that's what you think," Hwoarang said. "Hey, by the way how'd you get my number?" He asked intriguingly.

    "Um, excuse me but there is a little publication called the phone directory," Julia replied teasingly.

    "Of course…" Hwoarang answered hesitantly hoping for a different answer.

    "Yeah, well, I guess I'll see ya, bye now!" Julia said.

    "Bye." Hwoarang replied.

Hwoarang sighed as he pushed the button of the cordless phone and threw it away and landed somewhere. _Man, she's such a sweet girl_, he thought. _And what a deserving one too._

    Hwoarang stared at the sketch on the bond paper again. He stared at it carefully and a light bulb flickered in his mind.

    Without a second's hesitation, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. He took his car and drove along.

It was 2:30 am; the doorbell rang intensely as Julia headed running for the door arranging her glasses. "I'M COMING!" She shouted. _And it better be good_, she thought.

    As she reached the door, she grabbed the doorknob and opened it hoping to see an emergency instead, seeing a smiling young redheaded lad in front of her.

    "Hi," the redhead greeted confidently looking up and down on Julia who was on her pajamas and her hair down.

    "What do you want?" Julia asked annoyingly. "Do you know what time is it, or you just have a problem reading non-digital clocks?"

    "Let's go I have something to show you, c'mon!" Hwoarang invited as he grabbed Julia's arm forcefully.

    "Are you outta your mind? Its 2:30 in the morning!" Julia objected.

    "No, I'm completely still with my mind, but right now, I have a surprise for you, c'mon," Hwoarang insisted.

    "A surprise?" Julia asked puzzled.

    "Yeah, grab your coat and let's go! Hurry!" Hwoarang insisted. "And quit asking, you'll wake everyone up."

    "This better be good," Julia murmured stubbornly as she obediently grabbed her coat by the coat rack and exited the door and closed it behind her.

    "This better be a good one, you hear that?" Julia repeated as she pointed her finger at Hwoarang. 

    "Ooh, this is a good one alright," he answered perkily as he opened the car door for Julia and slipped at the driver's seat and drove along.

    "Don't you mind telling me what is this "surprise" is all about?" Julia asked while wiggling her fingers for the quotations as they stepped in the car.

    "It's a surprise, right? So, I'm not going to tell you until we get there." Hwoarang answered.

    "Get where?"

    "You'll see, right now, you can just calm down and wait, okay?" Hwoarang said as he turned his head to Julia.

    Julia didn't answer, she sighed heavily and let her body be in a relaxed position throughout the ride.

Moments later, Julia felt herself being shook. "Wake up sleeping beauty, we're here." She heard Hwoarang said. Although, the term "sleeping beauty" bothers her a bit.

    Julia squinted her eyes. She let her vision adjust to the dark. "Huh? Whe-?" Julia's words were cut of as she recognized the place.

    "Are you screwed up mister? We're in school for cryin' out loud! Are you desperate for classes already?" Julia hollered.

    "I know. Now follow me," Hwoarang said as he grabbed Julia's hands and pulled her along. Hwoarang and Julia left the car. As they went in, Hwoarang pulled a key from his pocket and started to unlock the Mishima High gate and they went in. Safely. _I wish nobody sees us_, Julia thought as she scanned the place.

    A few seconds later, they reached a tall wall near the football field. "Now, hold still..." Hwoarang commanded as he took out his flashlight.   

    He turned the direction of the light towards the wall which now shown a colorful picture of a mural. The mural shows a beautiful representation of antiquity in which pictures of samurais, shoguns, ninjas, maids wearing kimonos and perfect blended blue sky and perfect looking ancient Japanese houses. It looked like as if it were made to be a collage.

    Julia stood on her position speechless and amazed. "Wow, its just like in my sketch."

    "Yeah, isn't it?" Hwoarang answered as he stood at Julia's back focusing the flashlight against the wall.

    Julia came close to the painting and touched it. "Even I can't portray my sketch to a painting. The colors just blend very well, did you do this?"

    Hwoarang shook his head and answered, "But I kinda asked an old friend a favor."

   "An old friend?" Julia asked.

    "Yeah, he's an artist hired in my father's company."

    "He must've been a professional." Julia said.

    "Of course, he is. He put most of his artworks in auctions." Hwoarang answered.

    "Uhuh, I can see that," Julia answered but she instantly faced Hwoarang with a worried face and said, "But don't you think this is cheating?"

    "Hmm, I haven't thought of that," Hwoarang answered as he moved closer to Julia and placed his hand on her shoulder which made Julia feel a bit uneasy and he continued, "But hey it was your idea wasn't it, the only flaw is that you weren't the one who portrayed it."

    "And another flaw is that, the credit doesn't go originally to us but to your old artist friend," Julia answered as she looked up at Hwoarang's towering figure.

    "But you thought of it didn't you?" Hwoarang asked hoping to convince Julia.

    Julia nodded her head and said, "Hmm, maybe but as long as Mr. Phoenix doesn't suspect we hired someone to do this, then we'll be safe."

    "Mr. Phoenix won't suspect a thing, I mean after all he's after lovely Ms. Williams," Hwoarang said slyly.

    "Really, which Ms. Williams?" Julia asked intrigued by the thought.

    "Nina Williams. But, nah, its their business, we don't have to interfere don't we?" Hwoarang replied.

    "I guess so," Julia said and asked, "Hey, what time is it?"

    "Its 4:00," Hwoarang answered as he obediently checked on his watch.

    "Oh, gosh, mother doesn't know I was out, I better head home now," Julia said hurriedly.

    "Lets go then," Hwoarang, said as they walked away from the wall and headed for his car in which Julia was still under his arm.

"Man, doesn't it bother you to live faraway from school especially outside the city?" Hwoarang asked Julia while they were driving along the traffic-free streets.

    "No, I guess I'm used to it already," Julia replied nonchalantly.

    "Hey, why don't you get a dorm at school?" Hwoarang asked her.

    "Dorms are so expensive, and besides I don't need one I'm used on my way of life, unlike you rich kids," Julia said with a trace of mockery in her voice.

    "Well, if that's what you feel," Hwoarang answered. Then they went silent throughout the ride.

"Thanks again," Julia said as they arrived at her house. Moreover, without any uncertainty she hugged Hwoarang without restraint and whispered in his ear, "Thanks for everything."

    "No problem," Hwoarang answered feeling happy.

    Julia released her hug and felt herself blush of what she did. She never did something like that on a guy before, especially to a kind of guy such as Hwoarang. 

    Hwoarang who took advantage of the scene, touched Julia on the face, and whispered, "You know what, you are a very special person Julia, a person so hard to loose."

    Julia did not reply but instead, she looked him in the eyes, and noticed that they were deep pools of rich chocolate and his handsome face was well structured and blended well with his well-built body and dyed red hair. At that instant, she realized she is falling for the guy. _Gosh, why does he have to be so handsome? _, she thought. _Or else none of these would have happened_.

    She tried to shrug it off; the feeling she felt made her uneasy in the inside. "I-I guess I had to go now. Bye and thanks again for everything."

    Hwoarang smiled at her and said, "Yeah, sure, bye." Then he drove along leaving the love struck Julia.

Hwoarang smiled happily to himself while he drove along the high way. A feeling of triumph filled him. He made sure that he got her now. Its not that he was seducing Julia or anything, he was just kind of getting much of her attention to recognize him; which is weird for most of the time, girls _were_ the ones who tries to get his attention. Now he is beginning to admit that he enjoys Julia's company or in other words, he too was falling for the sweet person of what Julia is. And that he can't afford to take that Julia will be considering him no more than as a friend, a project partner and all and maybe worse Julia could be turning her back once more against him again like the times were before. _Gosh, why does she had to be so sweet, so gentle...and attractive,_ he thought as he drove along the traffic-free high way. _And she's pretty, only that she doesn't even know it and she doesn't pay much attention to her looks_.

_I can't, I just can't fall for him just like that_, Julia thought as she forced herself to sleep again even though it was already sun up. _Okay, I admit that he got me. But I just can't, not on him that is. _

     Julia sat up on her bed rested her head on right palm. "Why, oh, why does it have to me?" she asked herself.

    Julia thought sullenly at the thought of falling for Hwoarang. Sure, he is cute and all alright, but what Julia worries about is that she might get herself changed if she goes nuts over him. A guy like him and a girl like her doesn't match at all, as she told herself. Sure, he could be the key to her popularity but hanging out with him might change her whole outlook towards people and other liberated girls might mistaken her a whore, for she knows how popular Hwoarang is especially among the girls at school. Besides, it might wreck her perfect reputation amongst the teachers at school.

_    But right now, I'm completely feeling helpless_, she thought wearily._ I might just as well as go with the flow._

Monday at school in the office of Mr. Phoenix...

    "As I was saying, I would like to congratulate you two of a job well done on your mural not mention you two were the first ones to finish your project and that I gave you a well deserve A+."

    "Whoo-hoo!" Hwoarang howled when Mr. Phoenix said the word A+.

    "Thank you Mr. Phoenix." Julia said.

    "Don't thank me, thank yourselves. Especially you Mr. Kyung, I guess Ms. Chang here is a very convincing partner as I have expected and you two make a good pair." Mr. Phoenix commented.

    Julia's heart sank as soon as she heard Mr. Phoenix's last sentence. She giggled nervously. She took a glance at Hwoarang who was now somewhat celebrating. _God, it must have been his first time acing a project, no doubt_, Julia thought. 

     "And now, I guess, you may go and have your lunch and thank you for coming." Mr. Phoenix told them. Then they exited the office. 

    "Man, Julia you haven't muttered a word to me that you have just been paired up with a totally cute partner and you just spent your whole Saturday painting along with him?" Christie whispered loudly as they went through the door.

    "Christie, there's no big deal about that, and besides it's a project, and you know how desperate I am in finishing a project as early as possible," Julia replied as normal as can be, shrugging the thoughts she had been having the pass weekend.

    "Typically Julia, as usual, but don't ge-" Christie's words were cut off when they heard a guy's voice calling upon Julia.

    "Julia, Julia wait up," the guy's voice called from behind them.

    Christie giggled and nudged Julia excitedly. Then she turned around to see Hwoarang jogging behind them.

    "What is it?" Julia asked him as soon as he stopped in front of them.

    "I was just going to ask you if it is okay for you to see me after lunch otherwise after dismissal time this afternoon, or just any of your free time? I really have something important to tell-or rather show you." He asked.

    "Well," Julia started and looked at Christie for approval. Christie nodded back. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you after lunch."

    "Even better. Now meet me at the shed near the football field, bye Julia and bye Christie!" Hwoarang said as he waved goodbye.

    Julia waved back and stopped as soon as he was out of sight. "Oh my gosh, Julia! What have you two been up to?"

    Julia stomach churned. Then she replied nervously, "What are you talking about? He must've wanted me to help him with his homework or something."

    "(sigh) I dunno Julia, first, it maybe just homework and projects and who knows what comes next, eh?" Christie said taunting Julia. 

    "Excuuuse meee, Ma. Christiana Juliana Montiero, I have no interest in those things yet, do you hear?" Julia said outraged.

    "Loud and clear boss! However, you said it Julia, "yet." Which means its just a matter of time and just not yet now." Christie teased hoping to light the fire on Julia.

    However, Julia remained calm, which was mostly unusual. _I dunno Christie,_ she thought to herself._ But you still have a lot to know._

As dealt, Julia met Hwoarang near the football field. Julia felt somewhat nervous to see Hwoarang and his friends for she would be an oddball against them.

    "Julia, over here!" Hwoarang welcomed Julia as he saw her coming and gestured his hand to come over.

    Julia shaded her eyes from the strong rays of the sun and saw a guy waving for her to come. Then she headed for the shed.

    "Hi, nice to see you Jules." Hwoarang greeted as soon as she came over and met him although; Hwoarang calling her Jules makes her feel uncomfortable. Julia then saw Hwoarang's friends surrounding the shed staring eerily at her and Hwoarang and the noise of heavy metal rock ringing in her ears, which kind of bothers her a bit.

    Julia just smiled at him. "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet." Hwoarang said as he grabbed Julia's arm and pulled her along.

    "Who?" Julia asked as she tagged along.

    "Someone..." Hwoarang answered with suspense.

    "Someone? And where are we heading?" Julia asked.

    "Can't tell you yet, but we are heading for the library." Hwoarang replied.

There was silence between them as they headed for the library. Julia kept on thinking who this someone could be for she had no clue.

    When the arrived at the library Hwoarang took Julia to a table wherein a familiar face of a girl and a boy welcomed her.

    "Hi Julia, nice to see you!" The girl greeted with a smile. "Did you have lunch already?"

    Julia stood openmouthed and wide eyed as she saw the girl. It was Pamela but right now, if she heard it right, she was called as Xiaoyu-her original name. She didn't mutter a word from then.

    "Um, Julia, Xiaoyu wants to meet you," Hwoarang began to break the odd silence and Julia dropped the books she held in front of her above-the-knee Mishima High plaited skirt.

    The girl rose to her feet and stood before Julia. "Are you okay?" She asked anxiously.

    Julia nodded awkwardly and replied at last, "Y-yeah, I guess."

    "I asked Hwoarang if he could convince you to come over. ' Coz I wanna-I wanna see you again and apologize to you on what I did." The girl said.

    "But what about Christie?" Julia asked.

    "Christie and I are okay already, its you that I wanna talk to," Xiaoyu replied.

    "And you decided to call yourself with your original Chinese name?" Julia asked.

    "Yeah, I guess we had to stick to what's original, right?" Xiaoyu answered as she flicked her ebony-black hair, which she was wearing down with a little hairclip on the side.

    Julia noticed that there had been many changes with her long lost friend. For right now, she wasn't wearing her hair up in pigtails that usually bounce whenever she makes any moves but right now she was wearing them down and simple. Also, she talked and smiled normally not the way she used to talk which sounded so babyish and most of all, she called herself Xiaoyu instead of Pamela nor Pam. Surely, as seeing the outcome, maybe Jin really has a great influence over Pam or better yet, Xiaoyu.

    "I guess so," Julia answered her friend.

    "(Sigh), anyway, the reason that I called you here is for me to ask of your forgiveness, so Julia, do you forgive me?" Xiaoyu asked nervously.

    Julia sighed heavily, opened her mouth slowly and said, "Pam-I-I mean Xiaoyu, its not easy to forgive," Xiaoyu bowed down her head and Julia continued, "But since we were friends and had known each other for quite a long time, I guess I'll reconsider and yes, I forgive you."

    Without any uncertainty, Xiaoyu embraced Julia tightly and Julia embraced Xiaoyu back, which caused the two friends to giggle.

    "Well, it's nice to see two friends hugging each other, but I thought there was suppose to be three," said a voice from behind them.

    Julia and Xiaoyu turned back and saw Christie with her hands on her waist. "CHRISTIE!" Julia and Xiaoyu called simultaneously.

    Then Christie joined and hugged them. Jin and Hwoarang looked at each other and smiled. Jin, who remained quiet all the time, shrugged and smiled back at his friend.

*{The Queen says}: **NOPE**, **it's not yet the end of my story**. There's still probably 2 more chapters to come, 'coz if ever I would stop here, I would be deceiving the title (remember it's a **prom** thing) and I won't be able to continue telling you on what's gonna happen to Hwoarang and Julia. Yes, there's still more things to happen between the two and you could find out if you stay tuned for chapter five. And yes, Julia is wearing a preppy school girl uniform just like Xiaoyu's, they all do actually including the boys, it's a private school, right? I hope you readers enjoyed the temporary happy ending coz I was still thinking to give you a suspense ending especially in the part where Xiaoyu was waiting for Julia's answer to forgive her blah, blah, blah...anyway, I need reviews, as usual, and thanks a lot again to those who had a heart to reviewed and e-mailed me!!! And once again, STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER FIVE!!! 

   


	5. dILLEMA

Chapter Five 

*{The Queen says}: Alas! The fifth chapter. Man, its been a long time. Once again, thanks to those who reviewed my previous chapter, I truly appreciate that ;-) Anyway, this chapter, I guess would still be more Hwoarang and Julia, and I added a little Christie too. I guess, I had to write more about them coz I had a lot of events in mind that would suit them perfectly and **I hope its not getting stale…well, anyway, read on and enjoy. Don't forget please review. Thanx!**

The silvery moonlight flooded Christie's dark bedroom, the moon's rays touching her silky tan face as she lay down on her soft mattress preparing for her deep slumber. Christie smiled. She was happy. Again. She tried to remember that afternoon, after lunchtime at school. It was, for her, a special occasion. The reuniting of their friendship. She can't help but remember that very second they hugged each other. It was, after all, memorable. _I'm glad everything's back to the way it was again_, she thought. _And I hope things would remain as peaceful as they are._

    A warm tear crawled her cheek tickling her flawless skin. _I'm glad Xiaoyu knew Jin_, she thought as she wiped the tear from her cheek. _It after all started changes to occur and it somehow got things better_, _especially for Julia._

    Christie then felt her eyelids grew heavy and decided to close them and proceeded to her long awaited slumber.

Nina Williams shouted again at her unbearable herd of noisy and not to mention neglectful cattle, namely her students. 

    "I SAID SHUT UP!" She shouted. "CAN'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND A SIMPLE PHRASE WHEN YOU HEAR ONE? I'M TRYING TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT HERE."

    The students suddenly became quiet. They sat still and steady as a rock. The room instantly became peaceful. The awkward silence was bothering everyone in the room until Kate; a hippy cheerleader raised her hand. 

    "What is it Kate?" Ms. Williams asked.

    "Its just that, the bell rang, Ms. Williams." Kate said in a cheerful voice. "In case you haven't heard."

    "I heard the bell, Kate," Ms. Williams answered her. "Its just that all of you are so excited to leave that you aren't even paying attention to what I'm going to say."

    Julia then stood up and started saying, "In behalf of the class, Ms. Williams, we apologize and I think right now-" Julia paused and glanced at her classmates who were staring at her scornfully. "Right now we are ready to hear you out." Then she took her seat and took a deep breath.

    "_Why'd you do that?" _Christie whispered to Julia.

    "_So what, its for he benefit of everybody. Isn't it?"_ Julia whispered back and Christie answered her with a shrug. 

    "(sigh) Thank you, Julia for your _concern_," Ms. Williams said as she looked at her students straight in the eyes. "Anyway, as I was about to say, that your upcoming Junior-Senior Prom will be held in 4 weeks and-"

    The hooting and howling of her students cut off Ms. Williams' sentence. "THERE YOU GO AGAIN! WILL YOU PLEASE LET ME FINISH SO THAT WE WILL MAKE THIS FAST?"

    Her students once again obediently settled down. "I know you all are excited but please, oh please, control yourselves. _Sheesh_!" Ms. Williams added.

    "Again, as I continue, I will assign a committee of students to manage on different responsibilities for the preparation of the prom." Ms. Williams said. "And since no one will volunteer, as usual, I decided to take the responsibility as you class adviser to assign selected students to take charge. And as usual, the proud leader of the prom committee would be Julia."

    Ms. Nina Williams eyed Julia and said, "And I'll be seeing you after this Julia." Julia nodded with a response. "Okay, I guess that would be it students. Now, you are all dismissed."

    Students then eagerly flooded the door to exit the classroom. As for Julia, she stayed behind, as she was told.

    "See ya later!" Christie said as she waved to Julia and exited the room. Julia then waved back to her as she rose from her seat to approach Ms. Williams.

    "(sigh) I can feel gray hair growing on my head already," Ms. Williams said as she smiled wearily to Julia.

    "Don't be glum ma'am," Julia consoled. "You'll still look fresh and young if ever gray hair will start to penetrate in your head."

    "I dunno Julia, its seems that I'm countin' my days or somethin'-" Ms. Williams then stopped abruptly and continued. "Nah, what am I sayin'. Anyway, Julia lets get down to what you are here for."

    "Sure ma'am," Julia replied.

    "Alright then, you know the drill right?" Julia nodded and Ms. Williams continued as she handed Julia a folder. "So, here are the tasks you need to do for the preparation; as you can see, I have sorted them, so as the telephone numbers you need to contact if you need some professional assistance with the food and decorations."

    "Yes, ma'am," Julia answered.

    "Good," said Ms. Williams. "You may go now."

    Julia nodded her head and went straight to the door. But before she could completely exit the room, Ms. Williams called her once more. "And, oh, Julia," she said. "Don't forget to hire a professional band or singer or something, okay? Just in case the school band forgets...you know what I mean."

    "You got it ma'am." Julia answered. Again. Then she exited the room.

"So, I see you have another responsibility to carry on again, eh?" Christie asked as Julia came up to her. "Man, aren't you growing tired of it already? 'coz it seems that you haven't time for a date or something."

    "Christie, how many times do I have to repeat it to you?" Julia said in an annoyed tone.

    "Hm, good question...maybe you could repeat some more, hm?" Christie teased.

    Julia shook her head. "Christie, I'm not here in school to date. I'm here 'coz I want to have a better future. I'm here to study, to look forward to my career and-"

    Julia's words were cut off by a honk of someone's car. 

    It was Hwoarang. He was waving at Julia.

    "Well, speaking of date...I guess you are having one right now, hm?" Christie teased again. "I guess, you better switch goals for a while, I mean you deserve it."

    Julia gave her an exasperated look. "He probably doesn't want a date."

    "Date or not. What are you waiting for? Go to him." Christie said as she pushed Julia gently.

    Julia looked back at her and gave an angry look. Christie shook her head and smirked. _She'll get over it_, she thought to herself.

"Hey, Jules!" Hwoarang greeted as Julia approached his car.

    "Hey, what's up?" Julia greeted back.

    "Well, I was thinking if you need a ride home." He said.

    "Well, I..." Julia started saying.

    "C'mon, or maybe you can bring your friend along, if you want to." Hwoarang insisted.

    "Um, well…" Julia said. But before she could think, Christie spoke up behind her saying, "Nah, you too go ahead. I'll be fine." Then she waved and walked away.

    "C'mon Jules, hop on!" Hwoarang called.

    "Okay," Julia replied. She walked over the right side of the car and sat on the front seat.

    Hwoarang backed away from the parking lot and exited the gates of Mishima High and drove along.    

"What's the matter Jules?" Hwoarang asked as they were driving along. "You seem hot today. You flunked a test or something?"

    Julia did not answer. She was looking outside the window.

    Hwoarang noticed that she wasn't paying attention. "Hello, Julia!" Hwoarang called for her attention. "Snap out of it!" Hwoarang snapped his finger near Julia's face.

    "Huh? What?" Julia stammered.

    "I said what's the matter 'coz you seem hot. But I guess you're dazed." He said as Julia came to her senses.

    Julia laughed a little. "Nah, I'm just a little tired."

    "Is it a new responsibility at school again?" He asked and Julia nodded. "Y' know what, maybe you should take a rest from all the school responsibility you have."

    Julia sighed heavily. "How could I?" She replied.

    "Well, maybe you can talk the teachers in to giving you a rest 'coz I'm pretty sure they won't mind." He said. "I'm so _worried_ about you."

    _Weird._ Julia thought. _He's starting to worry about me._

    Julia turned to him with a puzzled face and said, "You're _worried_ about me?"_ _

    Hwoarang felt himself blush not knowing what exactly to say. "W-well...I mean...of course. What are partners for? Right?"

    Julia calmed down consider the thought. "I guess so." And she said to herself,_ Yeah, what are partners for?_

    There was an eerie silence between them for quite some time. Then Hwoarang spoke up saying, "Uh, Julia..."

    "Hm?"

    "I was thinking this over for quite some time," He started saying.

    Julia grew interested and said, "Yeah, what is it?"

    "Well, I understand that you are very much into school activities and stuff and you are always quite busy and the fact that you live long distance from school and..." He paused.

    "And?" Julia said.

    "And I was thinking if I could offer you a dorm at school." Hwoarang said quickly.

    Julia  faced him with her eyebrows meeting in puzzlement and said, "You are offering me a dorm at school? But…"

    "Well, that only if you want to," Hwoarang replied. "Just think it over."

    "But how in the world could you afford paying me a dorm?" Julia asked.

    "Well, I don't really have to pay for it its just that my father and the president of the school are very good business partners and friends. So, instead of having only one dorm, I got two in which the other one is reserved for emergency cases. So, I decided that instead of making the place rot of emptiness, I thought you could make use of it 'coz I really don't make use of the place anyway." Hwoarang explained. "So, what'll it be, hm?"

    Julia shook her head. "How and why would you always be so good to me," Julia replied with a trace of disbelief in her voice. "Remember that you are the one who made the mural project possible, you treat me every lunch time and you give me a ride home after school. Was it already enough?" Julia said which such intense that made Hwoarang felt a bit hurt and made him think she was scolding him for some unknown reason.

    Hwoarang did not answer and so did Julia. They each remained quiet until they reached Julia's place.

    Hwoarang halted his car in front of the sidewalk of Julia's house and said sullenly, "You're home now." 

    But Julia did not get out from the car. She too bowed down her head and said slowly, "(sigh) I'm so sorry, I guess I must've been a little shock because It's not that I don't like what you have been doing to me, its just that, I guess you have been doing too much. But anyways…" She then held Hwoarang's gloved-hand that was resting on the wheel. "...you have been always a _very_ special friend to me and I always feel fortunate to have you"

    Hwoarang turned his bowing head slowly to face Julia. His red locks falling on his face. Julia felt herself melting as those rich brown eyes looked straightly at hers. Julia smiled at him and he smiled back.

    They stayed in the car lost in each other's gazed for quite some time until Hwoarang spoke up, "So how about my offer?" 

    Julia let go of his hand, laughed a little and said, "Well, It's a pretty good offer and I guess I couldn't resist…"

    "So?" Hwoarang said.

    "Sooo, I'll just think about it." Julia replied.

    "Why?" He asked.

    "Are you in hurry or what?" Julia asked arching her eyebrow.

    "No, not really," he answered. "Its just that I'm eager to know if you..."

    "Just call me tonight, okay?" Julia said.

    "Okay," he confirmed.

    "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you," Julia said as she opened the car door and started to come out of the car.

    "Yeah, see you tomorrow!"

_I just can't believe she got away with_, Hwoarang thought. _I was just starting to get pissed off while she was blabbering negatively and I was just about to drive the car into a post and now she...she just held my hand said something and went out of the car safely. If it were other girls, I'd have already left them walking by themselves._ He then let out a satisfied sigh. _I'm just glad that I have her by my side._

Snap!

    It was already the fifth time Julia's pencil lead broke. She was feeling tense or rather awkward.

    Julia reached for the pencil sharpener and sharpened it while thinking to herself over and over again,_ Should I accept his offer?_

    She must've asked that question to herself a million times but can never come up with an answer and a big reason to support it because there'll always be a negative and positive reason. To make things clear, she can't decided at all even though Michelle, her mother has already allowed her. 

    _If I don't accept his offer_, she thought as she solved an equation in her Math homework._ He might turn his back on me and he might think I'm some killjoy freak; which I don't want him to think. But then I'll owe him a lot in which maybe he'll be taking advantage of._

    She slapped her forehead thinking hard as she scribbled down numbers and thought again to herself,_ But if I do take his offer, he'd be glad and we might even be closer to one another and I might be closer to school and might not need to ride a stupid bus. But then no one will be staying home with mother and I might get distracted in my studies. But hey, is he treating me just like a friend or what?_

    Julia moaned. "Oh, now what?" she said as she slammed her fist on her table. "I just can't decide. Oh, its hard to fall for a guy. Hmph!"

    While she was in her state of dilemma, the phone rang.

    Julia picked the phone up and greeted politely, "Good evening, Chang residence. Julia speaking."

    "Julia its me." the voice at the end of the line responded. 

   "Oh hi, Hwoarang," Julia said as she allowed herself to collapse on her bed.

    "So, how about it?" He asked eagerly.

    "What about what?" Julia answered although she already knows what he meant and the reason why he called but then she hasn't came up with a final answer yet.

    "You know." He answered. "About my offer. For the dorm."

    "Oh...yeah." Julia answered as she twisted the cord of her phone. "That."

    "Yeah, so what about it?" 

    "Well, I...I was thinking hard and I really can't decide whether yes or no," Julia answered hesitantly.

    "Aw, Jules. C'mon." Hwoarang whined like a child. "Think of all the advantages that'll do to you."

    _Yeah right, and think of all the disadvantages,_ Julia thought. "Why are you offering this anyway?"

    "Don't worry about my act of generosity," Hwoarang answered. "'coz you won't be owing me anything."

    _Hm, now that's very convincing_, she thought. "Well...I guess I'll consider..."

    "Is that a yes?" he asked.

    _Well, decisions, decisions,_ she thought. "Yes, it's a yes."

    "Great!" Hwoarang said excitedly. "Then you can pack and since its Friday, you can transfer on the weekend."

    "I guess so…" Julia answered.

    "Uh, hey, does your mother know about this already?" He asked.

    "Of course."

    "Cool, so, just let me know if you're ready, okay?" He said.

    "Sure." Julia answered.

    "Well, see you then, Bye!" Hwoarang said.

    "Bye!" Then Julia hung up.

    _Gosh, he's so excited_, she thought. _Guess I'll start packing._

Jin handed two tickets to the woman and stepped inside the movie theatre with Xiaoyu following him into their seats.

    He handed Xiaoyu her popcorn as they were settled down. He decided to take Xiaoyu out for a Friday night date to the movies.

    As they were watching, Xiaoyu laid her head on his shoulders and suddenly asked, "Hey, do you think Julia and Hwoarang will working out well?"

    "Why'd you ask?" Jin asked.

    "Well, I have observed that they are strangely close to each other nowadays ever since they got paired up on that mural project," Xiaoyu answered.

    "Uh, I dunno," Jin replied. "Because it's hard to think that those two can work out smoothly."

    "Yeah, I know." Xiaoyu said. "'Coz on Julia's case it'll be hard but for Hwoarang's case I guess he's already used to that stuff."

    "But then Hwoarang seems too eager to get Julia's attention, don't you think?" Jin said.

    "Well, I can't see that he isn't," Xiaoyu replied. "'Coz your best friend had been eyeing my best friend; treating her in lunch time and giving her a ride home." She continued.

    "Hm, I guess Hwoarang's always like that when he's into girls but then if it's taking his desired relationship too long to work out, he'll be in supreme action," Jin said in an analyzing tone. "But in this case I guess my ol' pal has been a little patient."

    "Well, whatever happens I'll be happy for my best friend 'coz she'll finally be seeing someone besides the librarian or teachers," Xiaoyu concluded on her side of the opinion.

    "And I guess I'll be happy too for my best friend 'coz he'll be with a girl that is not the bitchy type; if ever they'll work out," Jin concluded on his side of the opinion.

    With that they quit talking and thinking about their best friends and enjoyed the movie with each other instead.

\TBC/

*{The Queen says}: Damn, I just can't get my fingers off the PS2 especially in the holidays. Kingdom Hearts is a masterpiece! As always, chapter six will be up soon (I hope it will not take me a month or two again) and I hope you readers enjoyed it and I hope you'll be reviewing this chapter even though it came out soooo late. Anyway, I'm in a hurry to finish this story so that I'll be starting on a new one 'coz I just can't do a lot of stories all the same time. **And once again, thanx for reading and reviewing!** ;-      

 __


	6. That's who I was

Chapter Six 

*{The Queen says}: Well, I really have nothing to say but I guess this fic is turning out to focus on Hwoarang and Julia 'coz I my ideas seemed to fit their roles here in this fic and I just got fond of the two but I'll try to write some on Xiaoyu and Jin (its promise to those Xioayin fans). In addition, I would like to say thank you to those who read and reviewed the previous chapter. Thanx a million!

Disclaimer: Once again, I have no intentions on claiming Tekken trademarks, labels, signatures, or indicia as mine. 

Julia closed the lid of her traveling bag forcefully and laid it standing on the floor.

    "That's the last of it, and now to phone Hwoarang," Julia said to herself as she picked up the receiver of the phone and dialed Hwoarang's phone number.

    It rang twice and Hwoarang answered at the end of the line, probably expecting Julia's call. "You ready?"

    "Yup!" Julia replied eagerly.

    "Okay," Hwoarang said. "I'll be there. Just prepare you luggage."

    "Sure," Julia answered.

    "Okay then, I'll be right over," Hwoarang said as he hung up.

After several minutes of waiting, Hwoarang arrived in a pick-up truck. He went straight to Julia's room and helped her with her things.

    "Wow, I've never been inside your house before," Hwoarang said as they went down the stairs. "But it sure is spic and span."

    "Thanks," Julia replied. "My mom makes sure it is."

    "I guess you mom is such a perfectionist," he said.

    Julia laughed a little and said, "Hm, I'll take it as a compliment."

    "Hey, speaking of your mom, where is she?" Hwoarang asked.

    "She on work," Julia answered.

    "Hmph, too bad I don't have a chance to meet her," Hwoarang said as they exited the house and loaded the truck. Then they headed for the dorms.

As they arrived in the dorms, they went straight to Julia's new room.

    "Well, here we are," Hwoarang said as he opened the door to her new room. Julia stared open-mouthed. "Come on in."

    "Wow, its great," Julia said as she saw a vast room with a bed on the right corner, a telephone and a lamp on the bedside table, an air- conditioner, a study table on the left corner, a closet, a dresser, a Mishima High standard computer- probably provided in each room, and even a mini-refrigerator.

    "Wow, I mean, I never expected it to be this...well." Julia wowed. "I mean, I never expected it to have a computed and a mini-fridge.

    "Well, Heihachi-san does make sure everything suits him as well as his students," Hwoarang answered.

    "I guess so," Julia said as she sat down the bed.

    "Anyway, here you can find the bathroom and the wardrobe and all," he said as he opened another door at the far side of the room. 

    "Oh and before I forget," he said as he approached Julia who was sitting on the bed. "Here are the keys for all the doors and for all the other locks you can find in here." He handed them to Julia and continued, "And, uh, I guess I had to leave you here. So, is there anything else you need?"

    Julia stood up and nodded her head. "Okay, so I better get going and are you sure you don't need any help in fixing you room?"

    "No thanks, I can handle it all." Julia replied.

    "By the way, my room's just across your room and I don't usually stay here on weekends, I usually stay home." Julia answered with a nod. "Anyway, I just had to let you know that. And I gotta go." He waved at Julia and exited the room 

    Julia allowed herself to collapse on her bed as soon as the door closed. She felt glad that she accepted his offer. _I think its not so bad, she_ thought. Then she stood up and decided to start fixing her new room.

It was 5:30 in the afternoon when Julia finished her work and after feeling contented with her arrangements in her new room, Julia decided to cool down and have a snack with a can of soda and her favorite sandwich. She also made up her mind to phone Christie.

    "Hey Christie, you'll never guess where I am," Julia said excitedly as soon as she started a conversation with Christie.

    "Hm, let me see...you must be in… in Harvard University for your college application!" Christie answered jokingly. "That's not hard to guess, though."

    "Ugh, yeah right," Julia responded with deep sarcasm. "Anyway, I'm here at my new dorm room at school."

    "(Gasps) Really? But how? I thought you said you couldn't afford." Christie said in a state of shock.

    "Well, let's just say I got a sponsor," Julia said coolly with a giggle.

    "Hey, I thought you said the school won't provide you a dorm for free no matter what because of some business reasons?" Christie asked.

    "I didn't say the school sponsored me," Julia answered.

    "Well, who did?" Christie asked, as she grew interested.

    "Guess it for yourself miss-I-can-guess-it-all," Julia teased.

    "Hm, lets see..." Christie said to herself. "Hey, is it a teacher?"

    "Nope!" Julia replied.

    "A school official?"

    "Not either." 

    "Or perhaps a classmate?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "Is it a friend?"

    "Maybe..."

    "Are you two close?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "Do I know this person?"

    "Of course."

    "Boy or girl?"

    "I'm not telling."

    "Aw, Julia!"

    "C'mon Christie, isn't it obvious?" Julia hollered.

    "I know! I know!" Christie shouted at the end of the line. "It's Xiaoyu!"

    "No, its not Xiaoyu." Julia answered. "And even if it _is_ her, she would have told you already."

    "You're right..." Christie responded. "Its hopeless Julia, I don't know. I don't have the slightest clue."

    "Aw, come on. I never thought you'd give up on guessing." Julia said. "Come on, you're getting close."

    "Alright then, let me see, who is Julia's classmate and at the same time a close friend who would be rich and kind enough to provide Julia a dorm?" Christie analyzed at the end of the line. "Um, one more question Julia, uh, does this person love rock music?"

    "Uh, I guess so," Julia answered with a puzzled tone. "How should that help?"

    "(Gasp) JULIA, wow!" Christie bellowed at the end of the line. "It's him isn't it? I-I mean Hwoarang?"

    "Yeah, it was he." Julia answered. "And promise not to tell the whole school about this."

    "Oh my God!" Christie gushed. "Do you know what that means?"

    "How should I know?" Julia answered coolly.

    "It means that he really likes you and I mean _really_!" Christie said excitedly.

    "Whatever, I guess I had to go now," Julia said. "I still had homework to do."

    "I guess so too," Christie answered. "Bye, see you later and congratulations and my best of luck to you both!"

    "Christie!" Julia hollered sounding annoyed. Christie giggled mischievously and hung up.

It was about 6:30 in the evening and it was about an hour ago that Julia phoned Christie. She was doing her homework in Advanced Biology.

    "Hm, let's see," Julia said to herself. "Question number 8: Explain the difference between osmiotrophy and holotrophy. How do both differ from phototrophy?"

    "(sigh) I'm getting weary answering these questions already," Julia said to herself. "And I still have seven more to go."

    Julia sighed heavily again and started scribbling her answers. _Well, here goes_, she thought. _Okay…'Phototrophic organisms photosynthesize, using the sun as their source of energy. All the rest require energy in organic form. Osmiotrophs, either saprophytes or parasites, are fundamentally absorbers of monomeric-sized nutrients. Holotrophs ingest nutrients that are in larger packets than osmiotrophs. Most holotrophs-' _

    SLAM!

    Julia then stopped when she felt that she was about to jump off her seat. She heard a door slammed shut so loudly. And later, she heard voices shouting. And according to her intuition, it came just across her own room. And it was no other than Hwoarang's dorm room.

    She forced herself to concentrate to what she was doing. But she can't leave her curiosity behind. She so wanted to know what was going on in that room. The shouting and all, that is.

    So, being taken over by her curious thoughts, she rose from her seat taking her pen and notebook with her and slowly exited the door.

    She was down right true. The shouting and all was happening inside Hwoarang's room. And silly at it may seem even for Julia herself, she leaned closer to the door to listen. And later found her ear glued to the door. And fortunately for her no one was around peeking through their doors, which was highly unusual.

    "I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU KNOW THAT?" A female voice, which Julia hardly knew hollered harshly. "WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO YOU OUT THERE? WHAT?" 

    "ME? I BELIEVE YOU HAVE TO ASK THAT FOR YOURSELF!" A guy's voice answered angrily, in which Julia identified as Hwoarang's.

    "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" The girl shouted again and this time a wooden abject must've fell. "ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"

    "Can you do me a favor? Just quit bitchin' around!" Hwoarang answered and this time more in a lower voice. "And just shut the fuck up before the whole dorm collapses with all your cursing shit!"

    Julia was taken aback of what he said and now she heard a harsh breathing, a familiar sound in which reminded her when someone was sobbing or was about to cry so loud.

     "UGH! I'M SO OUTTA THIS DUMP!" The girl, who was probably crying, shouted again. And now she heard loud stomping footsteps towards the door.

    Julia, upon hearing this, panicked and her whole body froze. But her instincts tell her that she's going to get out of there and head for her room or else she's toast but her ear was still glued to the door for she was still curious to know what was going on inside. And most unfortunately, for her she was in a state of mental block due to her panic. And when she felt the doorknob turn she froze of terror of being caught. Luckily, not whole of herself was in the state of shock, so instead of running the hell out of there she purposely dropped her things that she was carrying and pretended to be anxiously looking for it.

    And in a fraction of a second the door opened and the girl came out furiously with out noticing Julia near the door way.

    "Sure go ahead and leave without even saying goodbye," Hwoarang said standing on the doorway as the girl walked on quickly without looking back.

    And as Hwoarang was about to turn his back, he can't help noticing Julia who was crouching near the doorway. "Julia?! What the-?" He stammered.

    "Oh my, where in the world is that pen of mine…" Julia pretended to say.

    "Uh, Julia?" Hwoarang called her out and Julia faced him saying, "What?" And Julia felt so stupid caught in this messy situation.

    "Uh, your pen's in front of you if you haven't noticed," Hwoarang informed.

    Then without further choices, Julia grabbed her pen and said in a foolish manner, "Oh, silly me, I must've been looking on the different direction! He-he!" Julia said blushing furiously.

    Hwoarang came forward to her and held out his hand and Julia took it and raised herself. "Um, you see, I was just walking down the hallway to my room and...and when that girl came out of your room I was knocked over and-and my things fell and-and now I'm here, ha-ha!" Julia lied adding a forced laugh, and stared at Hwoarang with a guilty and nervous face.

    Hwoarang stared back at her with a puzzled face. And Julia decided to escape from her messy situation instead. "Uh, so, I...uh...better go now to my room now…" Julia said.

    Then Julia turned her back leaving Hwoarang and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. And when she was about to turn the doorknob of her door, she thought to herself, _Great job Julia, now just look at the mess you got yourself into._

     Moreover, when she thought she could already get away with it, Hwoarang called her out, "Uhm, Julia?"

    "Huh? What is it?" Julia answered nervously.

    "Uh, are you busy tonight?" he asked.

    "Not really, just a few homework, why? Do you need any help with your homework?" Julia replied.

    "No," Hwoarang answered. "But I was thinking if we could go out for dinner or something..."

    "Um, I don't know…," Julia started saying.

    "C'mon Julia, its my treat," Hwoarang said. "And besides I need someone too keep me company for a while after all that's happened, if you understand?"

    Julia thought that there is no use to excuse herself put of this one. "(sigh), I understand, just give me five minutes."

    "Sure." Hwoarang replied.

Julia felt nauseated by the time Hwoarang was driving to their dinner. _Great, just great_, She thought to herself. _After all that has happened to him and that girl, he still asked me out. And I know I can't resist it…I just can't._ And just then Julia heard Hwoarang snickered.

    "What's so funny?" Julia said wondering.

    "I know Julia and you know it," Hwoarang said while holding a laugh.

    Julia was struck confused. "What are you talking about?"

    "I knew you were listening at the door when me and Hazel were having our little discussion," Hwoarang said. 

    Julia's heart pounded furiously and she felt herself turned red as a beet. And she even felt like melting. She was so embarrassed. 

    "No need to be ashamed of it," Hwoarang said. "Its alright. Its not like it's the first time that it happened, anyway. People at the dorm are probably sick of it."

    "And its weird that no one cared to listen except me," Julia said with a trace of embarrassment in her voice. "What happened to you and Hazel anyway and I thought you don't stay at the dorm on weekends?"

    "Hm, it's a long story," Hwoarang said. "It happens all the time. Hazel is such a flirt you know." Hwoarang shook his head in disgust. "And this time, we're off for good."

    "I'm sorry," Julia confessed. "And I'm sorry I was eavesdropping it's just that I was curious. Well, its not all the time that I hear it happen."

    "No sweat and you should get used to it anyway since your staying in the dorm." Hwoarang said as he parked the car in front of a snazzy looking restaurant and they started to get out.

    The place was great. And not the kind of restaurant Julia would most likely be seen in. For it was rather pricey as it seems. But the place feels calm and romantic.

    "Its been a long time ever since I've brought someone to this place," Hwoarang said as they took their seats and the waiter had finished took their orders. "It reminds me of my first date and my first girlfriend."

    "Really?" Julia asked. "Who'd you ask out then?"

    "Lila," Hwoarang said sadly.

    "Oh, I see." Julia understood. She knew who Lila Steamer was. She was one of the most popular girl in school and not to mention the prettiest and smartest. And there was no doubt why Hwoarang wouldn't like a girl like that. But she was one of those unfortunate people who died in a car accident. And Hwoarang seemed so troubled of her loss until now. But who wouldn't if that happened to you first girlfriend.

    "And ever since," Hwoarang continued saying. "I asked a different girl out just trying not to be troubled by her loss. But I guess no girl can really be compared to her. And its a shame I've become somewhat of a playboy. And my image towards the school community changed."

    "Yeah, I guess so," Julia said. "What can I say, I hardly knew Lila but I knew she was great. And not to mention she was the chairman of the Math and Science Club and those years were a blooming start of the club. And it was all because of her."

    "Yeah, I was really proud of my girl. Well, what's done is done and we had to accept it," Hwoarang replied and suddenly smiled sheepishly . "But it's a shame she died without me making love to her. We made a promise to each other that we will; right after graduation or the prom, that is."

    Julia laughed. And Hwoarang continued, "Hey, you know what? I haven't told anyone about this."

    "I assume you told your other girls already," Julia answered.

    "No, honestly I haven't" Hwoarang said. 

    "Then why are you telling me this?" Julia asked. "I know this thing would be personal. But I guess your little fight with Hazel turned out to be a little stressful for you, huh?"

    "No, believe me, it happens all the time and besides I feel I'm not compatible with anyone to share any secrets," Hwoarang said. "And I guess the reason that I'm telling you this, is that I feel I trust you, Julia." Hwoarang held Julia's hands passionately. And Julia felt his troubled sense and yet, they felt warm and touchy.

    "You really are a good friend to me Julia," Hwoarang said as he looked into Julia's eyes. And Julia grew speechless. "I feel so at home and comforted when I talk to you. I mean it is different with Jin and the gang, they're just, well, occasional friends or something. But for me, you are a friend for all occasions. I've felt like my old humble self when I'm with you. You're perfect Julia. _Don't_ you ever change, Julia. Don't ever change for me."

    Julia felt like crying. Instead she just gave him a nod and gripped his hand tightly. Enjoying every moment of it. 

It had been about and hour before Julia got to bed. But still, she couldn't fall asleep. Their dinner was great. She can't help thinking about Hwoarang and what he said during their dinner together. It was a private conversation and a very personal one too. Julia can't help thinking how troubled he was, then. Ever since the death of Lila, his most beloved. 

    It's true that two years ago before Lila died, Hwoarang wasn't like what he is right now. Plus the divorce of his parents last year which had left him really emotionally stressed. He was overly depressed for he was closer to his mother since he was the only child in the family. And his father now had been practicing polygamy and as for Hwoarang, well, its rather safe to say "like father like son". Before, he was a humble gentleman with short hair and smart appearance. But right now, he has greatly changed. He had long hair, and even dyed it with an unusual color which is red. He looked tough now and at first glimpse, you'll really know that he's just some popular rich ass-hole who didn't care much about life and just waits for all the glory to come and maybe even sometimes a _good lay_.

    But Hwoarang really was popular ever since, together with his childhood friend Jin. And simply irresistible. But he has become somewhat of damn playboy. And now he's having a bad image to those who respect school rules. 

    But now, Julia begins to understand who he really is deep inside. _Deep inside, I guess he's just a poor little boy suffering from a troubled life_, Julia said to herself. And she just can't forget what he had said to her a couple of hours ago. _You're perfect Julia. Don't you ever change. Don't ever change for me._

And with that Julia's heavy eyelids closed and went to another trip to dreamland.

*{The Queen Says}:Ahhhhh…another chapter finished and another yet to come...for the next two months that is. Well, sad to say I don't really update fan fics as early as possible. I'm just pretty busy with too much school work, that's all. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one and once again please REVIEW! And thanx a lot for reading! See ya next chapter!

 

    __


End file.
